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LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 


PRINCETON, N. J. 








PRESENTED BY 
Dr. Benjamin Gemmell 


BT 96 .S83 1924 
Stroh, Grant: 
God's world-program 











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GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 
GRANT STROH 


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GOD’S 
WORLD-PROGRAM 


God’s Plans for Men and .< 


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GRANT STROH 
AUTHOR oF “The Next World-Crisis,” “His Glory,” 
“Gabriel and Michael: Angels, etc. 


NEW a YORK 


GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT, 1924, 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 


GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 
ree 
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF 
THE FRIEND WHOSE CHARM OF 
MANNER, RARE CULTURE, AND 
HELPFUL FRIENDSHIP MEANT SO 
MUCH TO THE AUTHOR IN THE 
COLLEGIATE YEARS OF HIS LIFE 





FOREWORD 


Thoughtful minds will concede that we are not 
living in a world of chance. Things do not just 
happen. The orderliness of the world, whether in 
the cosmic or in the human realm, argues for the 
wisdom, the power, and the personality of God. 
Science now traces every event or achievement to 
an adequate cause. Just as an intricate machine 
that is perfectly adapted to do a marvelous piece of 
work points to a planning mind, so we conclude that 
man himself and the unfolding of human history 
point to an all-supervising Mind. God did not cre- 
ate man, place him upon this planet and give him a 
specially assigned work to do, without having a 
definite goal towards which all of the events of his- 
tory are steadily and irresistibly moving. 

Not only has God a definite goal in view, with 
specific plans for the attaining of that goal, but in 
His wisdom He has seen fit to reveal to man the 
program by which He is working. This program 
so vitally concerns man that he must needs know it 
in order that God may secure man’s intelligent co- 
operation. 

Both the convenience and the value of a definite 

VEE 


Vili FOREWORD 


program are quite evident. With a printed program 
in one’s hand it is simple and more interesting to 
follow the order of events, whether the program 
be for instruction or for mere entertainment. When 
a program covers a period of several days or weeks 
or even years, it is all the more necessary that the 
program to be staged be thoroughly announced be- 
forehand, so that the order of events and the places 
of their occurrence may be unmistakably known. 
Otherwise the participants may not be prepared to 
take the parts assigned to them. 

The Divine program for the world is not posted 
upon billboards to awaken the curiosity of the in- 
different, nor is it anywhere confined to a single 
printed page. For the most part the program has 
been unfolded gradually to God’s people at the be- 
ginning of each of the great epochs of sacred his- 
tory for the special guidance of those who were to 
live during that particular period. In God’s Word 
we have revealed not only the various sections of 
the program, but also the record of how the pro- 
gram pertaining to the past has been carried out. 
How clearly and fully, for example, is this true of 
what we call the Mosaic Age. At the commence- 
ment of that age God gave a detailed revelation of 
what He required of Israel. This is followed by the 
record of how at times they gloriously succeeded 
in carrying out this program for them, and also of 
how at other times they miserably failed. 


FOREWORD ix 


In addition to the details of the Divine program 
at the beginning of each age, and for that age, we 
also may clearly discover the great outlines of the 
program in their forward sweep towards the final 
goal of human history. We do not have in our pos- 
session every minute detail of what is still in store 
for the world, but we have far more revealed than 
most Christians suspect. In addition to clear revela- 
tion of what is expected of the Church and the un- 
mistakable forecast of her successes and failures, 
we have also the program outlines of how the 
Church Age is to end. Who shall deny that these 
are facts with which ail Christians should be ac- 
quainted? 

The following pages are written in the hope of 
making clear some of the more important facts and 
features of God’s program for the world, with the 
prayer that each reader may at once assume the per- 
sonal responsibility of carrying out his God-assigned 
part in the Divine program. 


Pine 
ee 





CONTENTS 


CuapTter I: SEVERAL FUNDAMENTALS 
IN THE WORLD-PROGRAM . 

Need of Definite Plans Even by God—Probability 
of a World-Program—Fact of a World-Pro- 
gram. 

CuapTer II: OBJECTIVE OF THE PRO- 
GRAM 


Man’s Ultimate World- Rilerehimenn te Goal 
for Both Man and the World—A Program of 
Hope. 

CuHapTer III: SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM 

Racial in Extent—Defeat of All Spiritual Enemies 
—Victory over All Cosmic and Other Forces. 

CHAPTER IV: AES. OF THE PRO- 
GRAM 

No Possible Failure with eae God a God of 
Emergencies—Two Essential Requisites. 

CuHaprpTteR V: RACIAL CHARACTER OF 
THE PROGRAM . 

As Revealed to Adam, to Noah, to Aheahae, aa in 
Psalms and Prophets. 

CHapTter VI: PLACE AND PART OF THE 
CHOSEN NATION IN THE PROGRAM 

The Miracle-Nation—Supremacy Promised—Chas- 
tisement for Sin and Rebellion—Repentance— 
Restoration to Favor—Return to Land—The 


Missionary Nation—Future Blessing. 
xi 


PAGE 


19 


24 


28 


32 


36 


46 


xii CONTENTS 
CuapTer VII: THE CHURCH-PROGRAM . 


1. As Revealed in the Gospels—Israel Temporarily 
Superseded—Church Indwelt by the Holy Spirit 
and Fully Empowered—Mission of the Church 
—Opposition and Persecution—Apostasy An- 
ticipated. 

2. As Revealed in the Epistles—World-Wide Mis- 
sion of the Church—Inclusion of Suffering— 
Growing Apostasy—Glorification of the Church. 

3. As Revealed in the Apocalypse—A 'Two-fold 
Development—The Harlot Church—The Liv- 
ing, Yet Dead Church—The Church with the 
Opened Door—The Apostate Church—The 
Church Glorified. 


CuapTer VIIT: THE KINGDOM-PROGRAM 


God’s Greatest Problem—The Theocratic Kingdom 
—The Monarchy Form of the Kingdom—Gen- 
tile Dominion—The King Rejected and the Na- 
tion Judged. 


CHAPTER IX: THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE 
PROGRAM 


The One Hundred and Twenty Years Revealed to 
Noah—The Four Hundred Years Revealed to 
Abraham—The Seventy Years of Babylonian 
Captivity—The Four Hundred and Ninety 
Years Revealed to Daniel—The Final Three 
and One Half Years—The One Thousand 
Years of the Apocalypse—The Times of the 
Gentiles. 


CHAPTER X: SEEMING IMPROBABILITIES 
OF THE PROGRAM 


The Servitude of the Hamites—World-Blessing 
Through Abraham—Universal Sovereignty of 
the House of David—Concerning Jerusalem— 
Improbable Jewish Dispersion and Preserva- 
tion—Improbable Success of the Gospel. 


PAGE 


55 


95 


CONTENTS 


CuHapTteR XI: CHIEF METHOD AND IM- 
MORGAN Dee RTING TPES OR DHE 
PROGRAM , : : : 

The Method of Process and Crisis—Divine Princi- 
ples of Procedure—A Right Start—The Non- 


intervention of God and the Intervention of 
God. 


CHAPTER XII: AGENTS AND AGENCIES 
IN THE PROGRAM 

Chosen Individuals—Angels as inecae Spirits 
—Angels as Agents of Wrath—Nations as Di- 
vine Agents—Animate Nature as an Agency— 
Inanimate Agencies. 


CuHapTteR XIII: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL 
IN THE PROGRAM : 
Problem of Good and Evil—Evil Affords Op- 


portunity for Victory—Why the Long Conflict? 
—Evil Overruled—God Not Helpless. 


CHAPTER XIV: FREEDOM AND RESPON- 
Sime ye olN; RELATION: FO. THE 
PROGRAM . 7 

A Seeming Beer nitation of Freedom The 
Case of Pharaoh—Two Spiritual Laws—The 
Guilt of Judas—Mystery and Necessity of the 
Cross—The Crime of the Crucifixion. 


CHAPTER XV: THE PROBLEM OF SUF- 
FERING 

Real or Imaginary ?—No Tin nite ene the 
Facts—Mystery of Christ’s Sufferings—The 
Offense of the Cross. 


xiii 
PAGE 


105 


IIO 


123 


129 


xiv CONTENTS 


CHAPTER XV1: THE PRIMACY OF PRAYER 
IN THE PROGRAM 


Another Paradox—Prayer Vital to the Propane 
The Main Channel—Prayer God’s Method— 
Prayer Liberates Supernatural Forces—Prayer 
and the Will of God—Prayer and Natural Laws 
—Is Prayer Scientificp—The Primacy of 
Prayer—John Hyde, “The Praying Apostle.” 


CHapter XVII: THE, SUPERNATURAL 
ELEMENT IN THE PROGRAM 


Miracles vs. Naturalism—Hopelessness of Evolu- 
tion as a Method—Reasonableness of Miracles 
—Miracles Not Incredible—Necessity of Mir- 
acles—Miracle Periods—The Supernatural Not 
Uncommon—The Church and the Supernatural 
—Coming Age of the Supernatural. 


CuHapTeR XVIII: CHRIST’S PART IN THE 
PROGRAM 


The Maker of the Na, the Greatest Theme 
of Prophecy—Rejected as King—The Second 
Rejection—Kingly Claims Not Abandoned— 
The Prophet Like unto Moses—A Priest After 
the Order of Melchizedek—The Conqueror of 
Sin—Both Priest and Sacrifice—The Universal 
High Priest—Christ the King-Priest—The Son 
of David—Victory over All Enemies. 


CHAPTER XIX: THE PROGRAM AS A VIN- 
DICATION OF GOD 


Character of the Human Agents—Judged By Past 
Achievements—Vindication of the Consumma- 
tion—Vindication of the Resurrection—Vindi- 
cation of the Rapture—Vindication of Judg- 
ment—Vindication of the Kingdom Age—The 
Defeat of Satan—The New Heaven and New 
Earth—Ideals Realized. 


PAGE 


144 


152 


162 


182 


CONTENTS XV 


Guirres Xs) THE, PROGRAM-ONE OF. |. 
HOPE AND VICTORY | oy 194 


Optimism of the Prophets—Optimism of Christ Ee 
the Apostles—Meaning of the Gospel—The 
Pean of Victory—The Near Outlook—Victory 
Possible — Victory Promised— Victory Pro- 
cured—The Need for Such a Program. 


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GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 





GOD’S 
WORLD-PROGRAM 


CHAPTER I 


SEVERAL FUNDAMENTALS IN THE 
WORLD-PROGRAM 


God is not dependent upon programs for He sees 
the end from the beginning. Yet in the carrying 
out of His purposes for the world it is necessary 
that He have pre-arranged plans. Knowing all 
things and having in view a definite goal, would it 
be possible even for God to work without a program 
in mind? God never works in the dark. “He 
knoweth the way that he taketh.” God’s world isa 
world of order. Otherwise catastrophe and failure. 


THE NEED OF DEFINITE PLANS 


To achieve a definite goal definite plans must be 
carefully conceived and definite arrangements made 
to meet certain conditions or to overcome certain 
foreseen obstacles. Our God is not a haphazard 


God. If in our own short labors we recognize the 
19 


20 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


necessity of carefully prepared plans, how much 
more comprehensive and complete must be the all- 
embracing plans of God for the accomplishment of 
His vast and eternal purposes. 

A rightly proportioned building, revealing beauty 
and harmony in every line, is proof of the intelli- 
gence and skill of the architect. Likewise we argue 
that God would not have placed man upon this 
earth without having in mind a certain definite pro- 
gram for man in relation to himself and His uni- 
verse. It is inconceivable that God is not working 
according to a definite program for man. 

The necessity of a world-program, however, is 
not so much for God as for us. Our limited visions 
of the future specially require that we be Divinely 
guided with reference to it. If God has a definite 
program for His people, and if His people are to co- 
operate intelligently in carrying out that program, it 
must be revealed to them. We must know what 
God wants us to do and when He wants it done. 
This we can know only as He tells us. 


THE PROBABILITY OF A WORLD-PROGRAM 


Man is unable to make a program that extends 
very far into the future, for he knows not what even 
one day may bring forth. Knowledge of the future, 
especially the remote future, is the prerogative of 
God alone. His challenge to-day to men, as in the 


FUNDAMENTALS IN WORLD-PROGRAM 21 


days of Isaiah, is, “Show us things to come. De- 
clare the things that are to come hereafter, that we 
may know that ye are gods.” This challenge no man 
dare accept. 

Man, unaided, knows nothing of the future, and 
hence can make no plans for the future that will. 
unfailingly come to pass. Only God is the absolute 
disposer of events. First of all He alone knows 
the future. We recall how His covenant with Israel 
involved His revealing the future to them: “Behold, 
the former things are come to pass, and new things 
do I declare; before they spring forth I will tell you 
of them.”’ Isa. 42:9. “And who, as I, shall call, 
and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since 
I established the ancient people? and the things that 
are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them 
declare. Fear ye not, neither be afraid; have I not 
declared unto thee of old, and showed it? and ye 
are my witnesses.”’ Isa. 44:7, 8. 

This program for Israel was revealed both at Mt. 
Sinai (Lev. 26) and again to the new generation 
forty years later. Deut. 28 and 30: 1-10. Hence 
in the days of Isaiah God could appeal to the people 
as witnesses to the existence of the program as 
thus far revealed and accomplished. Whenever the 
103rd Psalm was sung the people were reminded 
that God had “made known his ways unto Moses, 
and his acts unto the children of Israel.’ Further- 
more, the probability of a Divine program for their 


22 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


own guidance was assumed by Israel: “Surely the 
Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his 
secrets to his servants the prophets.”’ And if God 
had a clearly revealed program for Israel, why not 
for the race? Why not for His Church? 


THE FACT OF A WORLD-PROGRAM 


Not only is there an inherent necessity in a world 
of order that God should have a definite program in 
mind, and not only is there the probability of such 
a program, but the fact of the existence of such a 
program is clearly revealed both in His Word and 
in the unfolding of history. A world-program is 
not a matter of mere inference, but a matter of 
abundant evidence. The purposes of God for man 
are matters of record, and the evidence is two-fold. 
Upon the one hand are definite promise and proph- 
ecy which relate to coming events, many of which 
belong to the entire course of human _ history. 
While upon the other hand we have authentic rec- 
ord of the actual fulfilment of the greater part of 
that prophecy. These matters we shall consider in 
their proper places. Meanwhile of this one thing 
we may be certain: “Known unto God are all his 
works from the beginning of the world.” 

Not only does God know His own works before 
they come to pass but He has revealed them to men: 
“I have declared the former things from of old; yea, 


FUNDAMENTALS IN WORLD-PROGRAM 23 


they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed 
them; suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.” 
“Before it came to pass I showed it thee.” “I have 
showed thee new things from this time, even hidden 
things, which thou hast not known.” Isa. 48: 3, 5, 
6. Avs the need has arisen new revelations and new 
unfoldings of God’s world-program have been given 
to men for their counsel and guidance. Not always 
in minute detail, but with sufficient fullness that in 
every period of the unfolding of the program God’s 
people have clearly known what was expected of 
them. The fullness of the revelation is apparent as 
we view the program as a whole. 

At the beginning of our study together, then, let 
us stabilize our minds and rest our hearts upon God. 
The disorder in the world about us, the seeming fail- 
ure of righteousness and the momentary triumphs 
of evil, are not beyond the sweep of God’s program. 
His purposes cannot be thwarted nor His program 
for man’s ultimate good be overthrown. 


CHAPTER II 
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAM 


God’s program for man has a clearly defined ob- 
jective. God is working continuously towards a 
definite goal, although many centuries may intervene 
between the making of the plans and the realization 
of them. Just as the blue-prints of the architect look 
forward to the completed structure, so the plans of 
God for the world forecast the accomplishing of all 
of God’s purposes for the redemption of man and 
his secure establishment upon the new earth. 


MAN’S DOMINION OVER THE EARTH 


God’s original plan for man included his headship 
over all things upon this planet. Although man for- 
feited his rulership because of his own subjection to 
Satan, God’s purpose for man has not been changed. 
His objective is still the same so far as man’s place 
upon this earth is involved. God still intends that 
man shall have supreme dominion over all the earth, 
and that man himself shall be in complete and willing 
subjection to God. 

God’s purpose for man to rule the earth in con- 


junction with himself was greatly complicated be- 
24 


OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAM 25 


cause of the entrance of sin and the consequent fail- 
ure of man, but God had made provision beforehand 
even for man’s sin. The consequences were fully 
covered in the original program. Before man 
was created God knew that man would sin, so He put 
into His program ample provision for it. Christ was 
the Lamb “‘slain from the foundation of the world.” 


AN IDEAL GOAL 


Through sin the world was wrecked. Hence the 
Divine program must provide for a complete recov- 
ery and restoration. All traces of the tragedy of sin 
must be completely wiped out. Whe restoration of 
all things was put into the program from the begin- 
ning. Every picture of the goal towards which all 
history is moving is a is a picture o of | ideal conditions for 
men and for the earth. Not ‘simply restoration 
of pristine conditions is planned, but the reaching of 
a goal for man which is immeasurably in advance of 
Eden. Whether we turn to the Psalms, Prophets, 
Gospels, Acts, Epistles, or the Apocalypse the final 
state of both man and the earth is found to be per- 
fect in every respect. The curse is to be removed 
from man and beast and the earth itself. Man is 
to be brought back into filial obedience to God and 
again be associated with Him in the administrative 
affairs of the Kingdom. The earth is to be renovated 
and filled with surpassing beauty and abundance. 


26 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Wars are to cease, righteousness and peace are to pre- 
vail throughout the earth, and man himself made a 
being worthy of the acme of God’s creation, a being 
like unto Jesus Christ, for we are called to be con- 
formed unto His image. 

Religious, political, social, and cosmic conditions 
will be perfect. When God’s program is fully carried 
out the best conceivable conditions will be established 
where now exist imperfection and ruin. Instead of 
want and greed, suspicion and hate, crime and sor- 
row, will be abundance and peace and joy and love. 


A PROGRAM OF HOPE 


The objective of God’s program is intended to 
awaken men to joyful hope. To-day a spirit of 
despondency is gripping the hearts of many who see 
only catastrophe ahead. Catastrophe may come, will 
indeed be necessary in order to hasten the comple- 
tion, but God is equal to every crisis. The perfect 
goal will be attained. 

Various stages of progress mark the course of 
God’s dealings with man. For example, a consum- 
mation is predicted in connection with the returning 
of Christ in glory; but the final consummation will 
not be reached until the present order of things 
passes completely away and God brings into being 
the new heaven and the new earth. These are among 


OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAM 27 


the final objectives. For the new man restored to 
God, made like unto Him, the inclination to sin re- 
moved, God will provide an entirely new and perfect 
environment in which will dwell the perfected race. 


CuHapter IIT 
SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM 


A program that has in view the accomplishment 
of such vast purposes, including the complete re- 
demption of man and the restoration of an earthly 
Paradise, must be all-embracing. A short-sighted, 
weak, or insufficient program would certainly fail to 
accomplish the vast and eternal objectives of God. 
Just as great military campaigns have failed because 
all details and emergencies were not cared for, or the 
required equipment or food-supplies underestimated, 
so would the incomparable objectives of God fail if 
His plans were not sufficiently comprehensive in 
scope and complete to the last detail. 


A RACIAL PROGRAM 


God’s program for man embraces all men in all 
ages. It is a world-program, both geographically 
and chronologically. Not only were the Israelites in- 
cluded but “all families’? and “all nations.’ God’s 
dealings are with the entire race. If particular indi- 
viduals or companies of men seem to have been spe- 
cially favored, it has been always with all other men 
in view. If one man or nation has been Divinely 


chosen and blessed it was to the end that all men 
28 


SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM 29 


and nations would be blessed eventually. God is not 
a partial God. He is not sectarian or national in His 
interests, especially in His world-program. His 
love embraces the world and so does His program. 

God’s program is perpendicular as well as hori- 
zontal. It descends into all strata of society. The 
lower levels of society are quite as important to God 
as the upper crust. Indeed, if numbers count, the 
regeneration of the middle and lower levels is more 
important than that of the higher strata. God plans 
equally for all. 

The world-program is also chronologically com- 
plete. It embraces all history. Everything is in the 
present tense with God, the end of the program as 
well as the beginning and the middle. God has 
planned for the millennial man as well as the antedi- 
luvian man. No age has been overlooked. Each 
plays an important part in the program. Each is es- 
sential to the program. 


MAN’S ENEMY CONQUERED 


Finally any program that has in view the best in- 
terests of man must include God’s dealing with man’s 
greatest enemy. Ever since man’s first sin he has 
been more or less under the dominion of Satan. 
Hence God’s far-reaching plans for man must look 
forward to the time when the power of Satan is com- 
pletely broken and man made forever free. This 


30 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


was promised to Adam and Eve when God said that 
the Seed of the woman should bruise the Serpent’s 
head. The promise is having partial fulfilment now 
and will have enlarged fulfilment at the beginning of 
the Kingdom Age, when Satan shall be bound. Its 
complete fulfilment awaits the end of the Kingdom 
Age. 

God’s plans for man would be defective also if 
they failed to consider man’s inability to cope with 
Satan on account of a nature and a will that have 
become weakened by sin. In his weakness man 
needs help. At his best he still is exposed to the 
attacks of the Adversary and frequently overcome. 
About him and above are “‘spiritual hosts of wicked- 
ness” with which he must contend, but against which 
God has made provision. There is a Divinely pro- 
vided armor which fully protects us from all attacks 
of evil spirits. But at best victory over Satan and 
his emissaries is limited to the few at the present 
time. Christ gave authority “over all the power of 
the enemy’’ to only a few in His day. That circle 
has been greatly enlarged in our day, but there is a 
good time coming when universal dominion in the 
spiritual realm will be experienced by mankind. 


VICTORY OVER COSMIC AND OTHER FORCES 


At the present time also man is largely at the 
mercy of the great cosmic forces about him, above 


SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM 31 


him and beneath him. Lightning and earthquake, 
fire and flood and cyclone often play havoc. When 
these forces are loosed man is powerless before them. 
Such things are not always to be. In Paradise re- 
stored we cannot conceive of man being at their 
mercy. 
, Likewise, “in the times of the restoration of all 
. things,’ shall man be subject to the unseen attacks 
of countless microscopic animals which silently deal 
their death-blows, and against which man seems to 
have no adequate protection? Either the nature of 
these accursed diminutives must be changed, or man 
be made immune from their ferocious attacks, when 
the ideal earth is brought into subjection to man. 
Thus we see that many things must be included in 
a world-program for man, if it be sufficiently com- 
prehensive to deal with all of man’s problems and 
man’s enemies. However many they may be we can 
believe that God’s wisdom, foreknowledge, and 
power are sufficiently inclusive to accomplish all 
these things and victoriously prevail in the end. 


CHAPTER [V 
ADEQUACY OF THE PROGRAM 


A program that. is sufficiently comprehensive in its 
scope might still be a failure. We need to ask an- 
other question: Is God’s program for man adequate? 
Will it accomplish its objective? The very asking 
of the question helps us to. answer it. Whose pro- 
gram is it? Is not God able to make effective that 
which He has planned? Has not God the resources 
and the power to carry out His own purposes? 


NO FAILURE WITH GOD 


God has given His own answer and assurance: 
“Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely, as I 
have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have 
purposed, so shall it stand.’ Isa. 14:24. God, who 
in infinite wisdom can plan, can also in infinite power 
execute. No purpose or program of God can fail. 
He will bring to consummation every wish of His 
heart and every way of His will. 

Yet some who ought to know better look upon 
God’s program as already having failed in several 
particulars. For example, they speak of Judaism 


as a failure, of Christianity as a failure, and of man 
32 


ADEQUACY OF THE PROGRAM 33 


as a failure. Back of all such statements is belief 
in the failure of God and ignorance of His program 
as a whole. Man may fail as in the past, and the 
Church may fail, but God’s program continues to 
move forward. It may be delayed but can not be 
frustrated. Would that all men had the confidence 
of Job, who declared, “I know that thou canst do all 
things, and no purpose of thine can be restrained.” 
It is the unexpected that often upsets even the 
best of programs, but God never is surprised. He 
has provided for every emergency. For example, sin 
entered the world and God’s plans for man seemed 
to be overthrown. Not so; before sin entered God 
had planned its remedy. Again, recall King Saul. 
So full of promise as the ideal king, he became proud 
and self-willed; but God had a better man in reserve 
to take his place. God also foresaw and predicted 
that the Chosen Nation itself would foresake Him 
and turn away to the worship of false gods; but to 
foresee that apostasy was also to provide for it. 
There can be no surprise or failure with God. 


THE GOD OF EMERGENCIES 


Our God is a God of emergencies. He can never 
be caught off-guard or unprepared. Mordecai had 
this confidence in God in a time when the mightiest 
monarch on earth had consented to a plot to destroy 
the Jewish nation. You recall Mordecai’s memorable 


34 ~  GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


words to Queen Esther, who was hesitating about 
interceding with the king in behalf of her people: 
“Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the 
king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou 
altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall 
relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from an- 
other place.” 

Mordecai was familiar with God’s program for 
His people, and he well knew that the program con- 
tained no word about the total destruction of the 
Jewish nation. Since it was essential that God pre- 
serve the nation in order to carry out His revealed 
purpose for them and for the world, Mordecai knew 
that in some way He would accomplish their deliver- 
ance in that hour of peril. And in these days of un- 
certainty and peril it is a mighty comforting thing 
to know just what God’s program for the Church is. 
It gives confidence and steadiness in times of con- 
fusion and danger. 


TWO REQUISITES 


The adequacy of a program that provides for the 
attainment of a definite goal depends upon two 
things: First, is complete foreknowledge upon God’s 
part of all difficulties, obstructions, and exigencies 
which might arise to prevent the carrying out of the 
program; and secondly, the possession of the re- 
sources necessary to meet every difficulty, overcome 


ADEQUACY OF THE PROGRAM 35 


every obstacle, and equal every emergency. God’s 
foreknowledge of coming events will care for the first 
requirement, and His control of all the forces and 
resources of the universe will cover the second. The 
program for man which God has arranged is fully 
adequate for the accomplishment of all that God has 
had in mind from the beginning. 


CHAPTER V 
RACIAL CHARACTER OF THE PROGRAM 


God’s program is not narrow or local, but racial. 
His interest is not limited to the Chosen People or 
to the Church. In all of His plans He has in view 
the entire race and the whole earth. This phase of 
the Divine program should never be lost from view. 

The first unfolding of God’s plans for man was at 
a time when man greatly needed help. Man’s sin 
had brought unexpected and utter ruin, Facing an 
unknown future upon which the curse of God rested, 
it was a fitting time for God to reveal to man some- 
what of His program for the race, for in that pro- 
gram was the promise of ultimate victory over Satan 
and of man’s final restoration to God. 


AS REVEALED TO ADAM 


The outstanding features of the program as re- 
vealed to Adam and Eve involved physical pain and 
sorrow for the: woman and her subjection to man. 
For the man were thorns and toil and sweat. In the 
end a return to dust for both. Spiritual death, or 
separation from God, followed immediately. Physi- 


cal death would also certainly follow in due time. 
36 


RACIAL CHARACTER OF THE PROGRAM = 37 


The world’s cemeteries are a silent testimony to the 
sentence of death that followed the entrance of sin 
into the world. Death reigned from Adam to Moses 
and its sway has never been broken, The funeral 
dirge sounds above all other sounds of earth. Death, 
death! Millions upon millions every year unwillingly 
testify to the awful fact that the body is subject to 
death because of sin. “Dust thou art, and unto dust 
thou shalt return.’’ Nobody can question that for 
Adam and all of his descendants this part of the pro- 
gram is being fulfilled. 

Prior to death another feature of the program is 
still in force. Man was not only to die, but before 
death would come toil and sweat. A’ certain amount 
of labor is a benefit and a joy. This Adam experi- 
enced in Eden. But sin entails excessive labor. Such 
has been the history of the race. The curse upon the 
ground has made toil necessary. For the vast mil- 
lions of mankind life is drudgery. Incessant toil is 
the price that keeps multitudes from starvation every 
day. Other multitudes die from the over-taxation 
of worn-out bodies and worn-out brains. 

Womankind well know the awfulness of the curse 
caused by sin. Hers was not only toil but also sub- 
jection and pain. First man’s tempter then man’s 
slave. The weaker vessel became degraded and op- 
pressed. Might took advantage of weakness. This 
probably is one of the darkest results of the Fall. 
In heathen lands to this day woman is the victim, the 


38 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


slave, the beast of burden, often forbidden even to 
eat with her husband, and usually denied a share in 
his pursuits and pleasures. Add to these the social 
and domestic duties of women, the pain and sorrow 
of bearing children, and we have indeed a dark pic- 
ture of the predicted program for womankind. Only 
tn lands where men have been made new creatures in 
Christ has the curse of sin upon woman been changed 
into consideration, love, and equality. 

The fact that these conditions of toil and trouble 
are not confined to any one country or race ought to 
have great significance. The program as revealed to 
Adam disregarded all ethnographic, geographic and 
chronological features. It embraces the entire race. 
The curse was all-inclusive for the period it was to 
be enforced. Praise the Lord, the curse will one 
day be removed! 

Although mankind was to toil and suffer and die, 
this was not to be his goal. The victory of Satan 
over man was to be followed by final defeat of the 
Serpent. This was the hope held out. The Serpent 
has indeed bruised the heel of the Seed of the woman, 
but her Seed will yet bruise his head. The first part 
of this section of the program has been literally ful- 
filled. Christ came, born of a woman, and suffered 
seeming defeat at the hands of Satan, but it was 
only seeming. The very cross of Christ has become 
an emblem of victory. It was the beginning of 
Satan’s downfall. His head will certainly be bruised 


RACIAL CHARACTER OF THE PROGRAM 39 


and he will yet suffer total defeat at the hand of the 
Seed of the woman, This is the preeéminent fact in 
the racial program. Already the race has begun to 
share in the victory of Christ over Satan; but this is 
only a foretaste, an earnest of the complete and final 
victory. 


AS REVEALED TO NOAH 


The Adamic Age ended in disaster. The descend- 
ants of Adam completely corrupted themselves and 
were destroyed in the overwhelming Flood, after 
which there was need of new prophetic light. God’s 
program for the future revealed new elements. One 
of these was that never again would God destroy the 
world by a Flood. The rainbow is the token of that 
covenant. God beholds it and remembers in mercy. 

Another element in the Noahic program is that 
civil government is now introduced. Special pro- 
vision is made for murder. That needed checking at 
once. Inthe preceding age Cain had been permitted 
to go free. God’s plan for that age was to allow sin 
to develop unchecked in order that man might know 
its awfulness; but after the Flood a new law was in- 
troduced. The murderer was to be put to death, and 
the executioner was to be man. By the new law a 
two-fold purpose was served. First, the course of 
crime was immediately checked, and second, the aw- 
fulness of it was emblazoned upon society because 


40 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


man had to bear the sword of the executioner. 
“‘Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood 
be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” 
The solemnity of this element in the program is most 
impressive. 

We would call attention to only one other thing 
in the Noahic program and that is the racial history 
as forecast in the three sons of Noah. Growing out 
of the incident of his own sin came the prophetic 
outline of the historic course of his sons, each of 
which was sharply defined. Miullenniums of history 
have transpired since this prophetic forecast was 
given, but to-day its fulfilment is plainly recognized. 

Thus was the program revealed: 


“Cursed be Canaan; 
A servant of servants shall he be unto his 
brethren. 
Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem; 
And let Canaan be his servant. 
God enlarge Japheth, 
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; 
And let Canaan be his servant.” Gen. 9: 25-27. 


The outstanding features of this history, which 
were corroborated in Chapter X, are that the de- 
scendants of Ham, especially the Canaanites, would 
form the servile races; that to the Shemites would 
belong religious supremacy; that the Japhites would 


ell 
a 


RACIAL CHARACTER OF THE PROGRAM 41 


be famous for their vast enlargement, attended by 
commercial and political dominion. This is the usual 
interpretation, but other prophecies reveal that ulti- 
' mately Shem will have political as well as religious 
supremacy. 

From Shem Abraham descended. This is the line 
of the Chosen Seed. A branch of the Shemites was 
to become the conservators of the true religion of 
Jehovah and transmit its knowledge to the remainder 
of the world. All of the monotheistic religions of 
the world came through Abraham, and thus through 
Shem. In a distinctive sense Jehovah has been his 
God, for the Saviour of the world came through him. 
This was the most distinctive feature of the Noahic 
program. 


AS REVEALED TO ABRAHAM 


When God called Abraham, separated him from 
his kindred, and entered into the Covenant of Bless- 
ing with him, He distinctly said that His purpose 
was to bless all of the families and all of the nations 
of the earth. In choosing Abraham God was not 
showing favoritism,’but merely selecting the channel 
through which He might most effectually extend His 
blessing to the remainder of mankind. 

In Abraham’s day mest men already had forsaken 
the primitive monotheistic faith of the race and idola- 
try threatened to blot Jehovah out of remembrance. 


42 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Archeological researches reveal the universality of 
rank polytheism and gross idolatry in the land of 
Chaldea, the early home of Abraham, and also in the 
land of Canaan to which he journeyed. Equally true 
was this of Egypt. Individuals here and there, like 
Melchizedek and Job, still maintained the worship 
of the living God, but the race as a whole.refused to 
have God in their knowledge and chose to worship 
and serve the creature rather than the Creator. But 
although God seemed to abandon them He did not 
wholly give them up. Instead He purposed and 
planned to reach them through the single family of 
Abraham. 

The Divine program as revealed to Abraham em- 
braced specific features and far-reaching purposes. 
His seed was to be the Chosen Seed. God would 
make of him a great nation and a company of na- 
tions. To him and to his seed was the unconditional 
gift of the Chosen Land and its perpetual ownership. 
All peoples of the earth were to enjoy Divine bless- 
ing or cursing upon the basis of their relationship to 
Abraham and their treatment of his seed; but ulti- 
mate blessing for all would finally prevail. 

The Chosen Family was to be marvelously multi- 
plied and to become as the sand upon the seashore 
and as the stars of heaven. It was to be character- 
ized by unusual fecundity and to increase with sur- 
passing rapidity. In the present, as in the past, this 
is a remarkable characteristic of the Jewish race. 


RACIAL CHARACTER OF THE PROGRAM § 43 


The present world-wide dispersion of the seed of 
Abraham is in line with God’s purposed blessing of 
all the families of the earth. When the veil that now 
lies upon their heart is taken away and they accept 
Jesus as their Messiah the original purpose of God 
to make them the great channel of blessing to the 
world will be accomplished. While it is true that 
through Christ blessing already has come to the Gen- 
tiles, this is only a foretaste of the fullness of bless- 
ing when the Chosen Nation is again grafted into its 
own olive tree. They are the natural branches. 
Through Israel as a nation God is yet to enrich the 
Gentile world with an abundance hitherto unknown. 
Their present world-wide dispersion forecasts their 
world-wide mission in the future. 


AS REVEALED IN THE PSALMS 


The Second Psalm portrays the reign of God’s Son 
over all nations. To Him the Father has said, “Ask 
of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine in- 
heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for 
thy possession.” This subject of universal kingship 
is continued in the Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth and 
Forty-seventh Psalms. The latter Psalm closes with, 


“The princes of the peoples are gathered together 
To be the people of the God of Abraham; 
For the shields of the earth belong unto God; 
He is greatly exalted.” 


4A GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


We take only a few of the statements here and there 
merely to show the racial scope of God’s program : 


“He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the 
earth; 
~~ Be still and know that I am God; 
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be 
exalted in the earth.” Ps. 46:9, Io. 
“Let the peoples praise thee, O God, 
Let all the peoples praise thee. 
Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy; 
For thou wilt judge the people with equity, 
And govern the nations upon earth.” Ps. 67:3, 4 
“He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, 
And from the river unto the ends of the earth.” 
“Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; 
All nations shall serve him.” Ps. 72:8, 11. 


etree, 


It is surely significant that this highly devotional 
book should be so full of passages descriptive of 
blessings extended to the Gentiles. 


AS REVEALED IN THE PROPHETS 


Isaiah is especially rich in its Gentile element : ““Be- 
hold my servant, whom I uphold; my Chosen, in 
whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon 
him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.” 
42:1. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends_ 
of the earth; for I am God, and there i is none else.” 
Isa. 45:22. “It is too light a thing that thou should- | 


onto rennet ent” 
ee 


RACIAL CHARACTER OF THE PROGRAM § 45 


) est be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and 
_ to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give 
_ thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou may be my 
_ salvation to the end of the earth.” Isa. 49:6. “The 
~ Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the 
whole earth shall he be called.” Isa. 54:5. 
_ The final goal in the Divine program is a redeemed 
and glorified earth. Such is the uniform voice of the 
prophets whenever they touch upon ultimate condi- 
_ tions. This striking passage from Micah will illus- 
trate: “But in the latter day it shall come to pass that 
the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established 
on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted 
above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it. And 
many nations shall go and say, Come ye, let us go 
up to the house of Jehovah, and to the house of the 
God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we 
will walk in his paths.” This is not a picture of 
Gospel times but of the Kingdom Age, when law and 


Ae nena 


program is neither Jewish nor Chen but racial. 


CHAPTER VI 


PEACE ‘AND PART OB CTE GEG sien 
NATION IN THE PROGRAM 


No one who reads the Bible can fail to be im- 
pressed with the prominence given to the Chosen Na- 
tion. Beginning with the family of Abraham at the 
close of the eleventh chapter of Genesis, two thou- 
sand years before Christ, the remainder of the Old 
Testament has to do chiefly with the Nation of Israel. 
Almost equally conspicuous is the place of the Jews 
in the New Testament. Following the return of 
Christ to heaven the Church comes gradually into 
prominence, but the Jewish nation is never completely 
lost from view. 


THE MIRACLE NATION 


Attention frequently has been called to the miracle 
of the Jewish nation and how its racial characteris- 
tics have persisted through the centuries. Every- 
where and always the Jew is a Jew. Unlike other 
immigrants he is not absorbed by the peoples among 
whom he has come to dwell. His power to resist as- 
similation is one of the marvels of history. Truly 
he dwells apart and is not numbered among the na- 


tions, as so long ago foretold by God. 
46 


CHOSEN NATION IN THE PROGRAM § 47 


Another miracle of the Jew has been his power of 
persistence. Persecuted, pillaged, plundered, ostra- 
cized, murdered, what other people so helpless and 
few in numbers could have withstood all these things 
and to-day be stronger numerically, financially and 
industrially than ever before in their history? 


THE FOREMOST NATION 


Only as we understand the place of Israel in God’s 
Own program can we understand his past history and 
his present growing power and ascendancy in the in- 
dustrial and the financial worlds. When the nation 
was brought up out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai God de- 
clared His purpose concerning it: “Ye shall be unto 
me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” Ex. 
19:6. “And I will walk among you, and will be 
your God, and ye shall be my people.”’ Lev. 26: 12. 
If they would remain loyal to Him, Jehovah would 
set them “on high above all the nations of the earth.” 
Deut. 28:7. In relationship to other nations it 
was said of Israel, “And thou shalt lend to many na- 
tions, and thou shalt not borrow. Jehovah will make 
thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be 
above only, and not beneath.” Deut. 28:13. They 
were to be “high above all nations that he had made 
in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou 
mayest be a holy people unto Jehovah thy God.” 
Deut. 26:19. Religious, commercial, and political 


48 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


supremacy! In these respects the nation of Israel 
was to occupy a unique place in God’s world-pro- 
gram. 


CHASTISEMENT OF THE NATION 


In preparing His program God foresaw that the 
Chosen Nation would not remain true to their cove- 
nant, would not keep His laws, and would turn away 
from Him and serve other gods: “And Jehovah 
said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy 
fathers; and this people will rise up and play the 
harlot after the strange gods of the land, whither 
they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and 
break my covenant which I have made with them.” 
Deut. 31: 16. It seemed unbelievable, but God knew. 
Therefore before they entered the Chosen Land God 
forewarned them of repeated and severe chastise- 
ments in case of their failure. In the sections con- 
taining these forewarnings we can see now the out- 
line of the entire history of the Jewish nation. 
Whether we take the one in Leviticus (Chapter 
26) or in Deuteronomy (Chapters 28 and 33) we 
have the same pre-written history. Both the bless- 
ing and the curse were set clearly before the nation 
and it chose the latter. As the result we find them 
to-day in the lands of their enemies, where they are 
being chastised for their sins. 

Marvelously and clearly their present condition 


é 


wD. 
' 


} 
f 


CHOSEN NATION IN THE PROGRAM § 49 


and experiences were portrayed: “And you I will 
scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the 
sword after you; and your land shall be a desolation, 
and your cities shall be a waste.’ Lev. 26: 33. 
“And thou shalt be tossed to and fro among all the 
kingdoms of the earth.” Deut. 28:25. “And thou 
shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by- 
word, among all the peoples whither Jehovah shall 
lead thee away.” Deut. 28: 37. 

These forecasts of the Jewish program were made 
prior to their entrance into the Promised Land. The 
one given to the nation by Christ in person fifteen 
hundred years after occupancy of the Land completes 
the picture of their present chastisement. The cul- 
minating sin of the nation was the rejection and 
crucifixion of their Messiah. They knew not the day 
that belonged to their peace. Luke 19:41. There- 
fore Jesus declared, “And they shall fall by the edge 
of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the na- 
tions.” Luke 21:24. All of these things have come 
upon them. But God’s complete program for them 
has not yet been fulfilled. 


REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION 


So long as the Chosen Nation kept the Law of 
Moses it was marvelously prospered, but curses fol- 
lowed upon their disobedience. However, the pro- 
gram calls for final repentance and restoration. God 


caste. 


meen, 


50 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


promised not to forget them when dispersed among 
the nations: “And yet for all that, when they are in 


| the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, 
| neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly, 


| and to break my covenant with them; for I am Je- 
_ hovah their God; but I will for their sakes remem- 
| ber the covenant with their ancestors, whom I 


| brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight 


of all the nations, that I might be their God; I am 


{ Jehovah.”” Lev. 26: 44, 45. This is the sole ex- 
_ planation of the miracle of their preservation. 


Faithless indeed were God’s people, yet truly “God 
hath not dealt so with any nation.” Marvelously be- 
loved and delivered and blessed and prospered, yet 
how undeserving, ungrateful, and utterly perverse. 
No nation so exalted, yet no nation so abased. Scat- 
tered among the peoples and left few in numbers 
among the nations, just as God said they would be. 
Surely this is the finger of God. But this is not all. 
The end of the program has not been reached. Two 
sections still belong to the future. 

First of all comes the repentance of Israel: “But 
from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou 
shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all 
thy heart and all thy soul. When thou art in tribu- 
lation, and all these things are come upon thee, in 
the latter days thou shalt return unto Jehovah thy 
God and hearken unto his voice: he will not fail thee, 


PNT ea INS Ls eA en ET 


— 


+ 


& 


vA 


CHOSEN NATION IN THE PROGRAM 51 


neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy 
fathers which he sware unto them.’’ Deut. 4: 29-31. 


RETURN OF THE NATION 


Following Israel’s return to God will be the return 
to their Land; for the covenant to which Jehovah re- 
fers is the covenant of blessing which included the 
Chosen Land with Israel in possession of it. Take 
for example the picture with which the thirtieth chap- 
ter of Deuteronomy opens. It portrays the joyous 
time following both national blessing and curse, and 
also their return to Jehovah: “Then Jehovah thy 
God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion 
upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all 
the peoples whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered 
thee . . . and will bring thee into the land which thy 
fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he 
will do thee good and multiply thee above thy fa- 
thers.” 


THE MISSIONARY NATION 


God’s program for the nation of Israel included 
His purpose to bless all other nations through Israel. 
Many have interpreted the “seed” of Abraham as ap- 
plying only to Christ. Christ indeed was of the Seed 
of Abraham according to the flesh, but He was not 


52 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


the sole seed. Through Him all the nations of the 
world are being blessed, but the fullness of blessing 
can come only through Israel when fully restored to 
God. At the present time partial blessing is coming 
to the Gentiles through the Church, during the time 
of Israel’s present rejection as a nation; but the 
Apostle Paul argues that “if their rejection is the 
riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the 
Gentiles; how much more their fullness?’ Again, 
“For if the casting away of them is the reconciling 
of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but 
life from the dead?” Rom, 11:12-15. “And ye 
shall be unto me a kingdom of priests.’ This was 
part of the Divine covenant when God constituted 
the nation at Mt. Sinai. In their moments of highest 
elevation the people often rose to a realization of the 
meaning of their priesthood. Take for example the 
Sixty-seventh Psalm: 


“God be merciful unto us, and bless us, 
And cause his face to shine upon us; 
That thy way may be known upon earth, 
Thy salvation among all nations. 


God will bless us; 
And all the ends of the earth shall fear him.” 


Israel never yet has fulfilled this part of God’s pro- 
- gram. The very sense of her mission to the nations 
was lost. The reluctance with which Jonah became 


CHOSEN NATION IN THE PROGRAM — 53 


a missionary to the Ninevites was typical of the atti- 
tude of the nation towards the Gentiles. When God’s 
Spirit is again poured out upon the priestly nation it 
then will fulfil its religious mission to the Gentiles. 
Present partial blessing through Christ during His 
absence from the earth will give place to fullness of 


blessing during His undisputed reign over the earth. | 


The Chosen Nation will yet become the Missionary 
Nation. 


FUTURE BLESSING 


As the present dispersion of the Jews among the 
nations is accredited to God, so also will be the re- 
gathering and establishing of them again in their 
own land. At the present time we are beholding a 
revival of the Jewish national consciousness and also 
a revival of interest in Palestine. Many are return- 
ing; but this isa return in unbelief. The regathering 
which God is to accomplish for them will follow their 
repentance and return to Him as their God and will 
occur in the time of their great tribulation, “the time 
of Jacob’s trouble.” This is still future. 

The feature of the Divine program for Israel which 
is of greatest interest to us is the unfolding of it 
that pertains to the future. If we were to have re- 
gard only to the present condition of the Chosen Na- 
tion we must conclude that God’s program for them 
is a miserable failure. Without any question God 


54 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


planned most wonderful things for the Chosen Peo- 
ple, and if we are to judge only from their past or 
present history He has failed to accomplish His pur- 
poses for them. And if His program for the Jews 
has failed, why may not His program for the Church 


ae | also fail? If God has not been able to meet all the 


' emergencies that have arisen in connection with 
His program for Israel, what guarantee have we 
that He will not also fail in carrying out His pro- 
gram for the Church? 

In the case of the nation of Israel God has not 
failed. The most important part of His program 
for his earthly people has not yet been put into 
operation. The time has not yet come. God will 
keep His covenant with them. Partially rejected 
now but not wholly, temporarily in disfavor but not 
finally, a most glorious future is in store for them. 

The Apostle Paul fully discusses these issues in 
the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. 
A’s natural branches they have been broken off, but 
God is able to graft them in again. God will keep 
His covenant with them when the Deliverer shall . 
come out of Zion and turn away ungodliness from | 
Jacob. 

When considering God’s program let us not make 
the grave error of judging it by a glance at some 
one section of it. Especially should we keep ever in 
mind the consummation of the program. This is 
particularly true of the Jewish part of the program. 


CHAPTER VII 
THE CHURCH-PROGRAM 


Great confusion has resulted from confounding 
the Church with Israel. The two are distinct in the 
Bible and also in the world-program. Israel is 
God’s earthly people and His program for that na- 
tion is wholly earthly. Not so the Church. Her 
program is quite different. Temporarily in the 
world she has a Divine mission to the world; but 
she is not of it. Both her origin and her destiny 
ate heavenly. 


1. As Revealed in the Gospels 


When Christ mentioned the Church it was still 
future. Matt. 16:18. It was something He was 
going to build. He was the Rock upon which the 
Church was to rest. He also was to be the Chief 
Corner Stone. This building is in process of erec- 
tion at the present time, growing into a holy temple 
in the Lord for a habitation of God in the Spirit. 
Eph. 2:21, 22. Each believer becomes a living 
stone, built into the spiritual house. I Pet. 2:5. 


This building-process will continue until the spirit- 
55 


56 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


ual temple of God is completed, when the Church is 
to be caught up into glory. 


ISRAEL TEMPORARILY SUPERSEDED 


That the Church was still future in the days of 
Jesus is revealed in the prophetic warning He gave 
to the unfaithful Jewish nation: “Therefore I say 
unto you, The Kingdom of God shall be taken away 
from you, and shall be given unto a nation bring- 
ing forth the fruits thereof.’ Matt. 21:23. In 
Rom. 10:19 Paul shows the application of these 
words of Christ concerning the Church when he 
quoted the prophecy in Deut. 32:21: “I will pro- 
voke you to jealousy with that which is no nation. 
With a nation void of understanding will I anger 
you.” Concerning this aspect of the Church Peter 
also wrote: “But ye are an elect race, a royal priest- 
hood, an holy nation’. . . who in time past were 
no people, but now are the people of God.”’ I Pet. 
2: 9-10. 


Thus we see that Christ forewarned the Jews that. 


spiritual authority would be temporarily taken away 
from the Chosen Nation and given to another body 
which He was thereafter to create. This new body 
was the Church. Because the Jews rejected His 
rulership over them He temporarily rejected them 
and took away their spiritual leadership. 


ae 


ee 


ae) 


THE CHURCH-PROGRAM 57 


INDWELT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT 


Our Lord also revealed an entirely new thing in 
His program when He told the disciples that when 
He returned to the Father He would send the Holy 
Spirit, who would abide with them and be in them 
forever. John 14:16,17. The Holy Spirit was 
also called “the Spirit of truth,” and was to be their 
guide. He it was who would convict the world of 
sin, and righteousness, and judgment, and who also 
would glorify Jesus Christ. John 16:8-13. The 
enduement of the Holy Spirit would also em- 
power the Church for its work of witness bearing. 
AACts 1: 8. 


MISSION OF THE CHURCH 


A' further unfolding of Christ’s program for His 
Church was concerning its mission. The Church 
was commissioned by Christ to evangelize the world. 
The disciples were to go forth and preach the Gos- 
pel to every creature. Repentance and remission of 
sins were to be proclaimed in His name to all na- 
tions. For this work they were to be endued with 
power from on high. Luke 24:47-49. This en- 
duement of power was the initial step in the pro- 
gram of the Church and was fulfilled upon the Day 
of Pentecost. Acts 2: 1-4. In larger measure this 
program became effective during all the days of the 


58 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Apostles; but thus far the Church has sadly failed 
in carrying out her part of the program, for large 
portions of the world still remain unevangelized. 


OPPOSITION AND PERSECUTION 


According to the program as revealed in the Gos- 
pels the course of the true Church would not always 
run smoothly. Ultimate triumph was promised 
(Matt. 16:18) but opposition and _ persecution 
would be encountered. Christ forewarned His fol- 
lowers that for His sake they would be brought be- 
fore governors and kings and be scourged. They 
might expect bitterness and betrayal from members 
of their own household. Indeed they would be hated 
of all men. Matt. 10:17-22. “It they persecuted 
me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:20. But, 
“be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are 
not able to kill the soul.’”’ Matt. 16: 28. 

The history of the Church, especially during the 
first three hundred years, fully revealed this per- 
secuting phase of the program, which never really 
has ceased. Neither should we expect it: “If ye 
were of the world, the world would love its own; 
but because ye are not of the world, but I chose 
you a of the world, therefore the world hateth 
you.” John 15:19. The heart of the world is un- 
changed. Despite its ardent protestations the world 
has no real love for Christ or for His followers. 


THE CHURCH-PROGRAM 59 


They who think otherwise and preach merely a so- 
cial regeneration of society apart from the cross of 
Christ, do not know the unavoidableness of perse- 
cution from a world that is more devoted to Satan 


than to Christ. Hostility is by necessity in the Di- | 


vine e program of the Church. down to the very, end. | 


PATS 


APOSTASY 


Again it must be noted that although the Church 
of Jesus Christ is to be perfected and glorified, “not 
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing’ (Eph. 
5:27) yet Christ foresaw imperfection and de- 
clension. Many would be led astray by false teach- 
ers, and the love of many would wax cold. Matt. 
24:11, 12. Can we imagine how saddened Christ 
“must TERS been as He put those words into the pro- 
gram? It was not His wish that these things should 
be there, but He could not keep them out. Apostasy 
was part of the permissive purpose of God. It is 
His will that man shall try to work out his own sal- 
vation. The right way is shown, but man is free to 
choose his own way. Apostasy showed itself very 
early. Even one of the twelve became an apostate. 
In the churches established by the Apostles were 
many that fell away from the faith. Likewise apos- 
tasy is more and more apparent within the 1e Church 


to-day and will continue to grow to the d will continue to grow to ‘0 the e end o end of t ‘the 
Sided ARE 


i 


Ae are neamie 


i 


60 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


2. As Revealed in the Epistles 


In line with Christ’s reference to the Church as 
an institution of the future is the Apostle Paul’s ref- 
erence to the Church as a “mystery,” which was not 
made known to the sons of men in former genera- 
tions as it was then made known to apostles and 


prophets through the Spirit. Eph. 3:4,5. There | 


Sere eer 


are veiled references to the Church in the Old Testa- 
ment but no full revelations. These we find chiefly 


in the Epistles. In all preceding generations the 
truths concerning the Church had been kept hidden. 
Even Christ revealed little concerning the Church. 
He described at some length the course of Chris- 
tendom (Matt. 13) but only in the Epistles is clearly 
depicted the course of the Church. 


WORLD-MISSION OF THE CHURCH 


All of the Epistles deal with Church-conditions 
and Church-problems, but our present interest is in 
their teaching about the Church-program. The first 
feature is its universal aspect. Following the teach- 
ing of Christ, who commanded His disciples to go 
into all the world, the key-note of the Gospel Age 
according to the Epistles was, “Whosoever shall call 
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Rom. 
10:13. The Jew came first in this program, but 
Gentile features finally predominated. 


Ree’ 


THE CHURCH-PROGRAM 61 


Within the first generation the Gospel was taken 
throughout the Roman Empire. The missionary 
spirit of the Early Church never has been equaled. 
Although to-day the Church has caught a glimpse of 
the world-mission of the Church, much remains to 
be done before the Apostolic program for world- 
evangelization shall be accomplished. 


THE INCLUSION OF SUFFERING 


The Epistles reflect afflictions and persecutions 
for the Church. These were particularly evident in 
the life of Paul and other leaders. Such experiences 
were to be taken for granted. Peter writes: “Be- 
loved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial 
among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, 
as though a strange thing happened unto you.” I Pet. 
4:14. In the mysterious providence of God suffer- 
ing was included in the Church-program for pur- 
poses beneficial to the Church. We are exhorted 
not only graciously to submit to. them but even _to 
rejoice in them. 


GROWING APOSTASY 


As in the Gospels, even more conspicuously in 
the Epistles do we discover the presence and predic- 
tion of growing apostasy within the Church. Vari- 
ous Epistles reveal instances of apostasy. For ex- 
ample Paul warned the elders of the highly favored 


62 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


church in Ephesus that from among their own num- 

ber false, teachers would arise and draw away dis- 
ciples after them. Acts 20: 29, 30. But the place =m. 
in the program where apostasy would be most ap- 
parent would be in the latter days. Dark pictures 

are drawn of those days. Apostates will “give heed 

to seducing spirits and doctrines of hauls, through *& 
the hypocrisy of men that speak lies”? 1 Tim. 4:1-3. = 
The Day of the Lord cannot precede the coming of 

this apostasy. II Thess. 2:3. Paralleling the devel- 
opment of the “mystery of the godliness” is the 
‘mystery of iniquity.” Alongside the true Church * 
is the harlot Church. 

Nevertheless the true Church of Christ is to be 
triumphant. Her glorification is assured. The 
world-program for the Church culminates in the | 
Resurrection and the Rapture. Sleeping saints will 
be raised and together with the living shall be caught 
up to meet the Lord in the air. ‘So shall we be 
forever with the Lord.’ I Thess. 4: 16-18. “If we 
suffer with him, we shall also reign with him.” 
Thus the message of the Apostles concerning the 
Church is one of hope and cheer and ultimate vic- 


tory. 
3. As Revealed in the Apocalypse 


Quite clearly do the messages of Christ to the 
Seven Churches reveal the history of the professing 


THE CHURCH-PROGRAM 63 


Church from the close of the first century down to 
the very end of the Age. Those heaven-sent mes- 
sages were not only for that group of local churches, 
but for all churches and all men everywhere. The 
seven-fold universal exhortation is: “He that hath 
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the 
churches.” The Seven Churches in the province of 
Asia were representative not only of conditions 
prevalent in all of the churches when John wrote, 
but representative of church-conditions down to the 
end of the Church Age. Moreover the very char- 
acter of the messages reveal in bold outline the seven 
successive periods of the history of the Church. 


A TWO-FOLD DEVELOPMENT 


As revealed in the Gospels and Epistles likewise 
in these seven letters the same two-fold and parallel 
development of truth and error, loyalty and falsity, 
run side by side from the beginning of the program 
to the very end. It is not Christ’s will that apostasy 
should mingle with apostolicity, but such is the per- 
missive program. Within the Church itself lies 
either the power to check this apostasy or the will- 
ingness to accelerate it. From which we see that 
the Divine program for the world may be modified 
by men, though not changed. 

Beginning with the portrayal of conditions in 
the Church at Ephesus, which well represents the 


64 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Apostolic Period of church history, we find condi- 
tions quite ideal. Only a single censure is merited, 
and that for no flagrant sin or falsity of doctrine: 
“But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave 
thy first love.” This falling away was serious but 
- slight in comparison with later lapses as revealed in 
the period of the Papal Church or of the Reforma- 
tion Church. Without going into wearisome detail 
let us consider present-day conditions as they are 
reflected in the last four messages. 


THE HARLOT CHURCH 


Taking up the Thyatira or Romish Church we 
know it to be a church full of good works. This 
is her boast and also her history. Knowledge of 
them is emphasized in Christ’s message to her. 
However, after all the good about this church has 
been said the awful facts are that the Romish 
Church is an idolatrous, harlot-church, and will pass 
into the Great Tribulation. Yet within her is a 


faithful remnant that will have nothing’ to do with 


ee ST 


“the deep ‘things c of. ‘Satan, and which is exhorted 
to hold fast till He comes. It is significant also that 
in this church that has so long aspired to dominant 
political power, the promise to the overcomer is, “to 
him will I give authority over the nations.” 


oF 


X 


THE CHURCH-PROGRAM 65 


THE LIVING YET DEAD CHURCH 


While much was accomplished historically by the 
Sardis or Reformation Church her outstanding char- 
acteristic is, “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and 
thou art dead.” Rev. 3:1. Dead orthodoxy sapped 
her spiritual life, and rationalism has now largely 
supplanted orthodoxy. No works of hers are per- 
fected before God. She began well, but arrested 
development marks her history. This has been 
manifested especially in her woeful lack of mission- 
ary and evangelistic zeal. To this church Christ 
will return unexpectedly, as a thief. Nevertheless 
He says, “But thou hast a few names in Sardis that 
did not defile their garments; and they shall walk 
with me in white; for they are worthy.” 


THE CHURCH WITH THE OPEN DOOR 


Prophetically the Philadelphia or Modern Mis- 
sionary Church Period started with William Carey 
in 1792, This is the church before which now 
stands the “open door which none can shut.’ It is 
the church with a little power, but which is loyal to 
Christ’s Word and Name. It is the true church of 
these apostate days, the church which Christ says 
He loves. But alongside of this church is the syna- 
gogue of Satan, full of false believers. 

The course of this Missionary Church is not with- 


66 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


out opposition. There is struggle and conflict. The 
opponents are themselves apostates, subtle and 
adroit. Therefore the needed exhortation: “Hold 
fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy 
crown.” This church is to be most highly honored 
for it will escape the Great Tribulation: “TI also will 
keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is 
to come upon the whole world, to try them that 
dwell upon the earth.” 


THE APOSTATE CHURCH 


How is the last period of church history por- 
trayed? Triumphantly, some would have us think; 
but this has no warrant in the message of Christ. 
The Laodicean period reveals an apostate church, 
Rev. 3:15, 16. Such is the testimony of “the True 
and Faithful Witness.”” Christ is not deceived by a 
fair exterior. Outward prosperity cannot conceal 
from His eyes the spiritual. poverty, wretchedness, 
blindness and nakedness: “Because thou art luke- 
warm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out 
of my mouth.” Nauseating to Christ! Yet Christ’s 
love is not exhausted and He makes an ardent appeal 
to them to obtain from Him the vital things that are 
lacking. He stands upon the outside of the door 
and there pleads with any individual upon the in- 
side who may be inclined to repent and open the 
door to Him, that He may come in to such an one 


THE CHURCH-PROGRAM 67 


and sup with him. To all such there is offered a 
place with Christ upon His throne. 


THE CHURCH GLORIFIED 


Thus we have unfolded a mingled condition of 
good and evil within the Church of Christ, which 
condition is to prevail unto the end. This is a warn- 
ing against false security, an appeal to examine our- 
selves. Yet while apostate conditions have been 
present in the professing Church from the beginning 
and will continue unto the end, within the professing 
Church is the true Church which Christ has re- 
deemed with His own precious blood. Oppositions 
and even persecutions may come, but the end is 
glorification. The course of the true Church, as 
portrayed in the Gospel, the Epistles, and the Rev- 
elation, ends triumphantly. Her program is a glori- 
ous program. 


CHAPTER VIII 
THE KINGDOM-PROGRAM 


Broadly speaking, the Kingdom of God is univer- 
sal and all-embracing. It includes heaven and earth; 
this world and all worlds. His kingdom includes all 
intelligences. Within God’s kingdom are both 
angels and men, good angels and evil angels, good 
men and evil men, saints and sinners, some will- 
ingly, others unwillingly. But evil spirits and evil 
men are also in the kingdom of Satan. Thus within 
the sweep of God’s kingdom, considered extensively, 
are regions of rebellion, spheres of darkness instead 
of light. 


GOD’S GREATEST PROBLEM 


_ The great problem of God is not to keep stars, 
| planets and comets in their orbits, but how to end 
the reign of rebellion upon the part of men. Since 
the essence of rebellion against God is sin, His con- 
stant problem is how to forever eliminate sin from 
this world of suffering and misery on account of 
it. 

God’s kingdom-program for this earth is seen in 


the history of His dealing with sin; for the prob- 
68 


THE KINGDOM-PROGRAM 69 


lem of sin is chiefly a problem of government. Sin 
is a choice of masters. Man early changed the all- 
wise and loving rulership of God for the supposedly 
better rulership of Satan. He made a bad bargain, 
but racially he has not yet fully found it out. This 
is not God’s fault. All through the centuries God’s 
program has been so unfolded and adjusted that it 
might be attractive to man the rebel. 


THE THEOCRATIC KINGDOM 


In God’s world-program we may discern various 
phases of the Kingdom. The old Theocratic King- 
dom of Israel was the first phase. This chiefly con- 
cerned the Chosen Nation, but not exclusively. That 
nation had a checkered career. Not because the gov- 
ernment was not the best, but because the subjects 
were so bad. Had they measured up to their high 
calling God would have set them on high above all 
the nations upon earth. But the time came, after 
many apostasies and chastisements, that they de- 
liberately rejected God as their King: “They have 
rejected me, that I should not be king over them.” 
Miers atta 3.577% 


THE KINGDOM UNDER THE MONARCHY 


Under the monarchy of Israel God sought to rule 
the nation through kings. Through David and sev- 


70 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


eral others He had a measure of success. The laws 
of the Kingdom were His laws. The Chosen Na- 
tion was not left to grope its way. Unlike other 
nations the laws of Israel did not develop out of its 
history, as some modern subversive teachers of his- 
tory would have us believe, but were in the main 
promulgated by God before their national history 
began. God had a national program for Israel and 
He revealed beforehand just what His requirements 
were in order that the nation might live up to the 
divinely revealed program. 


GENTILE DOMINION 


Both Theocracy and Monarchy failed. Not that 
God failed, or His governmental program, for the 
program is not yet completed. Meanwhile rebel- 
lious Israel was punished by foreign captivity, dur- 
ing which time all governmental power was tem- 
porarily taken away from Israel and given into the 
hands of the Gentiles. 

The first great Gentile world-power was the 
Babylonian. This was revealed to its great king, 
Nebuchadnezzar. It was also revealed to him that 
three great Gentile world-kingdoms would succeed 
his kingdom, Dan. 2: 37-44. This was the Divine 


program and still prevails. The government of the | 


world has been in the hands of the Gentiles ever 
since the days of Nebuchadnezzar, six hundred years 


es 


—— ns al 


Mn 


ri Pha 


be eenill 


THE KINGDOM-PROGRAM ip 


before Christ. Furthermore the dominion of the 
Gentiles will not be broken until the God of heaven 
sets up the world-kingdom that shall abide. Dan. 
2:44, 45. Which leads us to remark that the King- 
dom of God upon earth, in the form in which God 
approves, will not be established by the schemes of 
men. Only the power of God andthe wisdom of 
__God are equal t to the superhuman task of ‘subduing 
evil and ‘establishing His rule of righteousness upon 


the earth. 


CHARACTER OF GENTILE DOMINION 


The character of Gentile rulership was symboli- 


' cally forecast by the four wild beasts: the lion, the 
_ bear, the leopard, and the strange fourth beast with 
_ the iron teeth and the ten horns. Dan. 7: 3-8; Rev. 


13 and 17. Weare not now dealing with the ee 
pretations of these symbolical beasts, but wish only 
to call attention to their rapacious character. How 
the nations represented by them have preyed upon 
one another! Only as held in check by God or by a 
sense of their own weakness have Gentile govern- 
ments been kind towards one another, “Wars and 
rumors of wars’ have characterized the history of 
the nations of the past and this characteristic will 
persist to the end of Gentile dominion. It is so writ- 
ten into the program. Matt. 24:6, 7. 

The deteriorating character of government under 


72 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


the Gentiles is also revealed in the nature of the 
materials which composed the great image that 
Nebuchadnezzar saw, representing the entire period 
of Gentile supremacy. He was the head of gold, a 
mighty monarch, possessing many qualities of true 
greatness, who was brought to see his own depend- 
ence on the Most High and to extol the King of 
Heaven (Dan. 4: 34-37) who had made known to 
Nebuchadnezzar ‘“‘what shall be in the latter days.’ 
Dan, 2: 28. 

The second world-kingdom was represented by 
silver, the third by brass, the fourth by iron; the 
latter form of the fourth by iron and clay. What- 
ever else we have here it is not progress from lower 
forms of government to higher, but gradual de- 
terioration. When the weakness and failure of the 
final stage is reached the God of Heaven will again 
take personal control of the world-kingdom. Dan. 
2 AAS AS) soiN CV ui Doon yoink O, 


THE KING REJECTED AND THE NATION JUDGED 


The most prominent doctrine in both the Old and 
the New Testament concerns the Kingdom of God 
upon earth. Here it was that His authority was 
challenged, and here it is that it must be reéstab- 
lished. The world-program really deals with this 
one thing. So when in the fullness of time Christ 
was to be born of Mary, the promise made concern- 


ee wee 
we . i ad Pome 


THE KINGDOM-PROGRAM 73 


ing Him was renewed: “The Lord shall give him 
the throne of his father David: and he shall reign 
over the house of Jacob forever; and of his king- 
dom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:32, 33. This 
was a promise of the restoration of governmental 
power to Israel; but the kingdom was not then re- 
turned to Israel. Instead they took their King and 
crucified Him. For this crime judgment fell upon 
the nation and the subjects of the King were scat- 
tered among all the nations of the earth until they 
should be brought to recognize and claim Him as 
their Messiah. 


THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN 


Meanwhile another phase of the Kingdom of God 
is in evidence. This is designated as the “King- 
dom of Heaven.” It was proclaimed by John the 
Baptist, by Christ, and by the disciples. The phrase 
occurs only in Matthew’s Gospel. It isnot identical 


- with.the..Kingdom of God, but is a phase of that 


kingdom. It evidently means the rule of the King- 


| ‘dom of Heaven over the earth, or the application 


of the principles of heaven to the earth. The King- 
dom of Heaven is now in process of being estab- 
lished, but it will not be fully established before the 
return of the now absent King. 

Prior to His crucifixion Christ proclaimed to the 
leaders of Israel who were rejecting Him: “There- 


74 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


fore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be 
taken away from you and given to a nation bring- 
ing forth the fruit thereof,’”’ Matt. 21:43. Many 
years before when Israel proved herself unworthy 
of world-rulership the governmental authority of 
the earth was transferred to the Gentiles. Likewise 
when Christ came and the spiritual leaders of the 
nation proved that they were only blind guides He 
took away their spiritual leadership and gave it tem- 
porarily to the Church. During the present time, 
the time of the King’s absence from the earth, He 
is ruling through the Church from the right hand 
of the throne of God in heaven. This part of the 
Kingdom-program will continue until He removes 
the Church from the earth and later returns in glory 
to establish the Kingdom. 

The Kingdom of Heaven, however, is not synony- 
mous with the Church, but is a larger term. It is 
not the mystical Body of Christ, but rather the 
nominal Church together with its adherents. It is 
contemporaneous with Christendom, and includes 
the Church and also that portion of the world that 
has been to so large an extent influenced by the 
teachings and the principles of Christ. In that por- 
tion of the world where the good seed has been sown, 
Satan has sown tares. Both the wheat and the tares 
must be allowed to grow together until the harvest, 
which is the consummation of this age. Matt. 
13:39. Then the Lord of the harvest will send 


bene. Pd 


i 


THE KINGDOM-PROGRAM 75 


forth His angels who will take out of His Kingdom 
all things that cause stumbling and them that do in- 
iquity. Verse 41. 

The phrase “kingdom of heaven” is an illusive 
term. First of all it is the realm of heaven in which 
is the throne of God. Again, as we have just seen, 
it refers to the rule of heaven upon earth. The King- 
dom of Heaven upon earth is a present reality. 
Christ is now “the King invisible.’’ But He also is 
to rule over the earth personally when He returns 
in power and great glory. 


EXTENT OF THE PRESENT KINGDOM 


To the extent and in the degree that men during 
this present age recognize His authority and are 
obedient to His commandments, Christ is now rul- 
ing the earth during the period of His absence. We 
must concede that His teachings have mightily pre- 
vailed in the earth, and that His followers in propor- 
tion to their numbers have the greatest influence 
for righteousness in the world to-day. However, 
the present rule of Christ over the earth is limited 
and will continue to be limited up to the very close 
of the age. Satan opposes the claims of the absent 
King and obstructs the spread of the Kingdom to 
the very end. Yet the earthly Kingdom belongs to 
the heavenly King and the time is coming when 
Christ’s rule will be world-wide and undisputed. 


76 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Then the Kingdom will be even more truly than 
now the “Kingdom of Heaven.’ That future phase 
of the Kingdom is known as the Kingdom of the 
Son of Man. 


THE KINGDOM OF SATAN 


The world-kingdom of God will not be establisheu 
by any of the earthly kingdoms, Jew or Gentile, 
which have been mentioned. His program calls for 
a future and final form of the Kingdom, and before 
the visible Kingdom of the Son of Man shall be 
established in glory a kingdom of entirely different 
character will rule the world for a brief period. 

From the beginning of human history Satan has 
contended for the rulership of the world. The ad- 
vancement or the retrogression of mankind is di- 
rectly traceable to man’s allegiance to God or to 
Satan. Satan’s present kingdom is the “kingdom 
of darkness.” So great is Satan’s power and so 
wide his sway that he is called he “prince of the 
world” and the “god of this age.’ Once he even 
had the audacity to tempt our Lord by offering Him 
all of the kingdoms of the world if He would but 
fall down and worship him. Most of the world’s 


tulers unknowingly.-have.done_ what Christ refused 


to do. The time is coming when for a brief period 
all ‘the _world will worship the Beast, who is Satan 


incarnate. ee eerie een At 


Eee ses 
We woe 


a 





THE KINGDOM-PROGRAM 77 


A COUNTERFEIT KINGDOM . 


A counterfeit Kingdom. of God.is.to_be.established 
upon ‘the. earth. Satan will be the usurper. It is not 
for us here to enter into the description of that 
kingdom or to discuss the main evidences of prep- 
aration for it, which may be discerned in the world 
to-day, but only to call attention to the fact itself. 
It is Satan, the Dragon, who energizes the Beast of 


~ Rev. 13 that is to arise out of the sea of nations: 


“And the Dragon gave him his power, and his 
throne, and great authority.” “And the whole 
~... world _wondered_ after the Beast; erie they “wor- 


~ [ shiped “the L Dragon because he gave his authority 
to the beast.’ “Woe for the earth and the sea; be- 


_ cause the Devil is gone down unto you, having Bice 
ae 


wrath, knowing | that he hath but a short time.” 


“And there was given to him authority to continue 
| | forty and two months.”’ 


~Prior to that time the Church will have been re- 


\ moved from the earth, the Man of Sin will have 


been revealed, lawlessness and violence will have 
again filled the earth as in the days preceding the 
Flood. 

This usurpation of Satan will be short-lived. The 
counterfeit kingdom will come to a sudden end. 
The victorious armies of heaven, headed by Christ 
Himself, will execute swift judgment upon the 
Beast and upon all of his followers. The short- 


Sed 


- 


78 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


lived Kingdom of Satan will be overthrown and 
Satan himself securely bound. Rev. 19: 11-21; 
20: I-3. 


THE KINGDOM OF THE SON OF MAN 


An ideal, perfect Kingdom of God upon earth was 
clearly revealed in the Old Testament. This very 


earth which is in rebellion against the government. 


of God will be the sphere of an ideal earthly king- 
dom ruled over by the Son of Man. His is the right 
and He will surely reign. 

The Second Psalm is a portrayal of the persistent 
defiant attitude of nations, kings and rulers against 
Jehovah and against His Anointed. This rebellion 
will one day end. God will speak to the nations in 
His wrath and establish His King upon the holy 
hill of Zion. The nations of the earth have been 
given to Christ for an inheritance and the uttermost 
parts of the earth for His possession. Hence kings 
and judges are exhorted to “kiss the Son” ere His 
wrath be kindled. 

God promised to establish the throne of David 
forever. II Sam. 7:13. This covenant was never 
lost sight of by psalmist or prophet. The substance 
of it is, “I have made a covenant with my chosen. 
I have sworn unto David my servant: Thy seed will 
I establish forever, and build up thy throne unto all 
generations.” Ps. 89: 3, 4. 


Pete ee 


Ps 


iw . 


nee TO resis 


THE KINGDOM-PROGRAM 79: 


When the angel Gabriel appeared unto Mary to 
announce the coming of this promised Son he said: 
“The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of 
his father David.” Luke 1:32. At the appointed 
hour Christ came; but the people of David said, ‘““We 
will not have this man to reign over us.” He re- 
turned to heaven, but that event did not end the pro- 
gram of the Kingdom. 

“T beheld in the night visions, and behold there 


/ came with the clouds of heaven one like unto the 
* Son of Man, and he came even unto the Ancient of 


days, and they brought him near before him. And 
there was given unto him dominion, and glory, and 
a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and lan- 
guages should serve him; his dominion is an ever- 
lasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his 
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 
Pers, i: 

The Kingdom here portrayed is earthly. It is to 
succeed the four great world-empires described in 
the following verses of the seventh chapter of Daniel. 
When they should fail the God of heaven would es- 
tablish upon earth the Kingdom that would abide. 
This Kingdom is still future, for world-rulership is 
still in the hands of the Gentiles and will remain 
there until He comes unto whom has been given the 
Kingdom, and whose right it is to reign. 


CHAPTER IX 
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROGRAM 


Most of the events in the world-program are re- 
vealed but undated. This does not mean that their 
time is unknown to God. In His calendar all events 
are clearly marked. Some dates He has seen fit to 
reveal to man at various stages in history, while 
others have been kept secret. For example, it was 
deemed unwise to reveal the precise day and hour of 
our Lord’s return. We are certain of the event but 
uncertain as to its time. An event so glorious and 
weighted with such stupendous and eternal conse- 
quences might be a disturbing element in our lives 
if known to be actually near, while if known to be 
remote it might tend to lukewarmness and laxity in 
our living. Hence we have the revealing of the fact 
but the concealment of the exact day of our Lord’s 
return. 

At times, however, God has dealt differently with 
His earthly people, revealing beforehand dated 
stretches of history, as well as single events of un- 
usual importance, so that His people might be un- 
mistakably guided in the unfolding of God’s pur- 


poses for them. These dates might fall within a 
80 


THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROGRAM - 81 


single generation or be extended over several gen- 
erations, as we shall see. 

The dating of events beforehand is a simple mat- 
ter with God. All He has to do is transfer them 
from His calendar to ours. What is best for us is 
the consideration that determines what God will re- 
veal. 


THE I20 YEARS REVEALED TO NOAH 


Few have been the individuals to whom God has 
dared to speak in terms of days and years. The 
first of these was Noah. The earliest dated event in 
terms of years was the Flood. When the moral con- 
dition of the world became deplorable and hopeless 
and God determined to destroy it He revealed to 
Noah that He would delay its destruction for one 
hundred and twenty years. Gen. 6:3. This gave 
Noah ample time for building the Ark and also for 
calling men to repentance; for Noah was a preacher 
of righteousness to that corrupt generation. 

As the time of the Flood drew near God gave an- 
other warning in terms of specified time when He 
said, “Yet seven days.” Gen. 7:4, 10. This was a 
warning bell for Noah to wind up his work and do 
the last things before the Divine judgment should 
fall. Those seven days were also days of grace for 
those who had not repented under the preaching of 
Noah. 


82 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Nor should we overlook the “forty days and 
forty nights” during which the rain was to continue. 
Gen. 7:4. God knew and God gave the dates to 
Noah. During the unprecedented, and possibly the 
first prolonged rain storm, Noah was comforted to 
know the exact date of the ending of that awful 
judgment. 


THE 400 YEARS REVEALED TO ABRAHAM 


The second time when God dated events for His 
people’s guidance was near the beginning of the 
next crisis-period in the world’s history. The de- 
scendants of Noah had corrupted themselves and be- 
come idolaters. The acute stage was reached in the 
rebellion at the Tower of Babel. God there pun- 
ished the race by the confusion of tongues and the 
Dispersion; and later, when the apostasy of the race 
seemed almost hopeless, God called Abraham out of 
the midst of surrounding idolatry and revealed to 
him His far-reaching purposes of blessing which 
were to include all of the families of the earth. 

Abraham enjoys the unique distinction of being 
called “the friend of God.” To him God could 
freely reveal His secrets: “Shall I hide from Abra- 
ham that which I do?” To only a few individuals 
has God revealed the purposes that deal with the dis- 
tant future, and to fewer still has He deemed it wise 
to date future events. Abraham was one of these 


a 


THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROGRAM — 83 


latter. The record is as follows: “Know of a surety 
that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not 
their’s, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict 
them four hundred years; and also that nation, 
whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward 
shall they come out with great substance. . . . And 
in the fourth generation they shall come hither 
again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet 
full.” Gen, 15: 13-16. 

These four hundred years carried the Divine pro- 
gram beyond the death of Abraham into the fourth 
generation. His descendants during all this period 
were to remain sojourners. The land promised to 
them would be in the possession of others. Mean- 
while they themselves would be pilgrims and sojourn- 
ers, both in Canaan and in Egypt. In this latter 
country they would suffer affliction. After that they 
would be delivered, the nation that afflicted them 
would be judged, and the Israelites would come out 
of that land laden with riches and return to the 
Promised Land. With such promises as these God 
graciously unfolded the history of Abraham’s de- 
scendants for four hundred years. Abraham was 
God’s friend, to whom He delighted to tell His se- 
Crets, 

The purpose of the revealing of those four hun- 
dred years was not simply because of God’s friend- 
ship for Abraham. This Divine covenant no doubt 
often cheered the heart of Abraham during the years 


84 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


which followed, and it also became a family heritage. 
While at times the family lived below its privileges, 
yet the full import of the Abrahamic Covenant never 
was wholly lost. This is clearly seen in the parting 
words of Jacob to Joseph: “Behold, I die: but God 
will be with you, and bring you again unto the land 
of your fathers.” Gen. 48:21. When Joseph came 
to die he also was mindful of the covenant God had 
made with Abraham: “T die; but God will surely 
visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the 
land which he sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and 
to Jacob.” Gen. 50:24. So certain was Joseph 
that God would carry out His four-hundred-year 
program that he commanded his “brethren, saying, 
“God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up 
my bones from hence.’ The books of Genesis 
(chapters 21-50), Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, 
Deuteronomy, and Joshua tell us how God kept His 
promise to Abraham concerning the sojournings of 
the children of Israel for four hundred years, and 
their final establishment in the Land promised to 
Abraham and his seed. 


THE 70 YEARS OF CAPTIVITY 


Still later, after the children of Israel had been 
long in their land, God revealed to them another 
dated period of history. This is known as the Sev- 
enty Years of Captivity. While the Children of 


THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROGRAM — 85 


Israel were still at Mt. Sinai God gave to them a 
provisional unfolding of their future history in the 
blessings for obedience and the chastisements for 
disobedience. Among the latter would be captivity. 
As a last resort their cities would be wasted, their 
land desolated and inhabited by their enemies, while 
they would be scattered among the nations, Lev. 
26: 31-40. 

Despite all that God could do the nation continued 
to apostatize. Now and then checked for a time the 
falling away increased in momentum towards the 
end, Finally God could delay no longer. They 
must be cured of their idolatry and their national 
sins. The only way seemed to be to deprive them of 
all the privileges of God’s sanctuary and set them 
down in the midst of idolatry. The prophet Jere- 
miah was chosen to bring to them the sad news: 
“And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an 
astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king 
of Babylon seventy years.” Jer. 25:11. The last 
chapter of II Chronicles gives an account of the 
closing days of the Kingdom of Judah, with a sor- 
rowful explanation of God’s yearning over the peo- 
ple and of His deferred judgment. 

Jeremiah was God’s messenger of sorrow and also 
of comfort. The Babylonian captivity was for a 
definite period. If the people believed God they 
could know just when release would come: “For 
thus saith Jehovah, After seventy are accomplished 


86 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good 
word toward you, in causing you to return to this 
place.” Jer. 29:10, 11. Thus during all the years 
of their captivity they were to know that God's 
thoughts for them were peace, and not evil, in order 
to give them hope. 

Although the captivity was to terminate at the 
end of seventy years, yet the ending would be de- 
pendent upon prayer: “And ye shall call upon me, 
and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken 
unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when 
ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I 
will be found of you, saith Jehovah, and I will turn 
again your captivity.” Jer. 29: 12-14. 

You recall how prayer also was the means of end- 
ing the four-hundred year period revealed to Abra- 
ham. When God met Moses upon Horeb and spake 
to him out of the midst of the Burning Bush, He 
said that He had “heard the cry’ of His people. 
Likewise when the perverse nation shall experience 
the great tribulation that is to end their present dis- 
persion among the Gentile nations, from thence they 
shall seek Jehovah their God, and find Him, and re- 
turn to Him “in the latter days.’’ Deut. 4: 27-31. 
At that time God will hear and answer them, and 
turn their captivity, and gather them again from 
all the peoples whither He has scattered them. 
Deut. 30: 1-6. 

The prophet Daniel well illustrates the close con- 


+ 


-———~ " 


ee Sia eae 


THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROGRAM - 87 


nection between prayer and the fulfilment of proph- 
ecy in connection with the ending of the captivity to 
Babylon. He informs us that he understood by the 
books the number of the years whereof the word of 
Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet for the ac- 
complishing of the desolations upon Jerusalem, even 
seventy years. By which we understand that he 
found not only this definite prediction, but also the 
time of its expiration. Then he betook himself to 
prayer. And sucha prayer! Dan, 9: 3-19. Glow- 
ing praise, profound humiliation, n, full confession of 
sin, and ardent supplication! No “wonder that while 
he was still pleading the angel Gabriel came with a 
message direct from the throne of God. 


THE 490 YEARS REVEALED BY THE ANGEL GABRIEL 


A still more important era of dates was the period 
of four hundred and ninety years revealed through 
the angel Gabriel: ‘“O Daniel, I am now come forth 
to give thee wisdom and understanding.” Daniel’s 
prayer was to be more than answered. These gifts 
were supernatural gifts, and the “wisdom and under- 
standing”’ wholly pertained to the future, which only 
God knows. The Seventy Years of Captivity were 
about to end. What would follow? God alone could 
tell. The angel Gabriel was sent to lift the veil from 
the program for Israel for Seventy Weeks of years. 
Dan. 9:24-27. These Weeks were decreed upon 


88 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Daniel’s people and upon the holy city of Jerusalem. 
After sixty-two weeks, or four hundred and eighty- 
three years, the Messiah would be cut off, having 
nothing, and the city would be destroyed. The last 
week is separated from the others (v. 27) and many 
believe the history of that week is continued in the 
Apocalypse, when God shall again resume His deal- 
ings with the Chosen Nation and fulfil His cove- 
nants with them. 

Just as the revelation of the Seventy-Year Captiv- 
ity in Babylon was to guide the people as to plans for 
their return, in like manner the four hundred and 
ninety years revealed by Gabriel were so broken up 
into definite parts that those who neared the end of 
the second period (four hundred and eighty-three 
years) might know that Messiah was nigh at hand. 
Probably Simeon was one of these, for he was “‘look- 
ing for the consolation of Israel.”’ “It had been re- 
vealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should 
not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” 
Luke 2: 25-26. When the child Jesus was presented 
in the Temple the soul of Simeon poured forth the 
Nunc Dimittis. He was joyfully satisfied. The 
prophetess Anna also, who “worshipped with fast- 
ings and supplications night and day,’ spake of the 
infant Jesus “‘to all them that were looking for the 
redemption of Israel.” 

Why were these people just at that particular time 
in such great expectancy? With the nation at large 


THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROGRAM = 89 


it was not so. Was it not simply because they, 
like Daniel, had been studying “the books,’’ particu- 
larly the Book of Daniel, and knew that the time 
was about up for Messiah the Prince to appear? 
Likewise in these days, when the Lord is to appear 
the second time, the Church at large is indifferent 
and unbelieving; but some at least know and under- 
stand “the books” and will be expecting the Lord 
when He comes. 


THE FINAL THREE AND ONE-HALF YEARS 


The last three and one half years of the four hun- 
dred and ninety is an acute period of awful judg- 
ments, like the judgment of the Flood or the judg- 
ments upon Egypt. It is variously described in the 
Revelation as “a time, and times, and half a time,” 
“forty and two months,” ‘fa thousand two hundred 
and threescore days.’’ Each phrase amounts to three 
and one half years. This is the latter part of the 
period of the brief reign of the Antichrist, when 
worship shall be given to the Beast and to Satan 
(Rev. 13:4) and when all who refuse shall be 
branded for martyrdom. This is the period of that 
awful tribulation which is to be so fierce that it must 
needs be shortened. Matt. 24:21, 22. These things 
are written for the instruction and comfort of “the 
elect” of those days. 


90 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


THE I000 YEARS, OR THE MILLENNIUM 


The longest chronological period of the world- 
program plainly stated in terms of years is found in 
the Revelation. In chapter twenty, within a space of 
six verses, the term “a thousand years” occurs six 
times. There is as good reason for regarding these 
as literal years as for so regarding the four hundred 
years unfolded to Abraham, the seventy years re- 
vealed to Jeremiah, or the four hundred and ninety 
years revealed to Daniel. They embrace the true 
Golden Age of the world’s history. Full descrip- 
tions of their blessedness are found in the Prophets 
and in the Psalms. They portray the time when 
God will reign in righteousness and when unparal- 
leled peace and prosperity will prevail upon the earth. 
All iniquities, all wars, and every form of graft and 
greed and oppression shall cease. Man will be tested 
under the most favorable conditions imaginable. 
Into the Garden of Eden Satan came and man fell. 
Ever since then man either has yielded to Satan or 
struggled for his freedom against him. During the 
Millennium Satan will be bound and man will be 
given a final opportunity to see whether under the 
most favorable environment he will render glad al- 
legiance to God. 


THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROGRAM 91 


THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES 


Before the Messiah of Israel was rejected and 
crucified He foretold the coming destruction of 
Jerusalem. It would then be “trodden down of the 
Gentiles.” But He placed a limitation upon this 
subjugation. It was to continue only “until the 
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.’ Luke 21:24. 
The Times of the Gentiles symbolize Gentile su- 
premacy and rulership. They point back to the be- 
ginning of Gentile dominion under Nebuchadnezzar. 
His kingdom was to be succeeded by three other 
Gentile world-powers, the last of which was the 
Roman, the great world-power during the days of 
Christ upon earth and which continued centuries 
afterwards. Indeed it has had no single successor. 
Thus different forms of Gentile dominion have con- 
tinued in the world until the present day. Only re- 


cently, by reason of the British mandate over Pales- 


tine, has there been any prospect of that land return- 
ing to the control of the Jews. 


LENGTH OF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES 


Many earnest students of prophecy believe that 
the duration of the Times of the Gentiles may be 
definitely known. This opinion is based upon what 
is known as the “year-day”’ theory. 

If, then, Gentile dominion is to last for two thou- 


92 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


sand five hundred and twenty years, the date of 
their ending may be determined if we know the time 
of their beginning. They must have begun when 
Gentile dominion was given into the hands of King 
Nebuchadnezzar, or about 604 3B.c. This date, 
however, was only the beginning of the complete 
subjugation of Israel, for in 588 Zedekiah rebelled 
against Nebuchadnezzar and this resulted in the 
destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the Tem- 
ple. Since the beginning of Gentile supremacy was 
thus marked by a series of important events, we are 
warranted to conclude the same for the ending of 
that supremacy. Adding the 2520 years to each of 
the above dates, for example, we have two terminals 
for the end of the “times of the Gentiles’: B.c. 
604+ 2520 = a.D. 1917, the year when the great 
World War ended; and s.c. 588+ 2520=4.D. 
1933, the year for end of the Times of the Gentiles. 
These two dates give us a period of sixteen years 
for the period known as “the time of the end.” 

So many remarkable events have occurred in 
seeming conformity with this mode of interpreta- 
tion that it would be unwise totally to ignore it. 

In the book of Daniel, fourth chapter, the story is 
told of how King Nebuchadnezzar was humiliated 
by being degraded to the level of the beasts of the 
field for a period of “seven times.” This period of 
punishment evidently was for a period of seven 
years. The question is raised, ‘“May not the phrase 


THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROGRAM — 93 


“seven times,’ repeated four times in this chapter, be 
symbolic of the times of the Gentiles?’ Some sup- 
port to an affirmative answer seems to be found in 
Leviticus 26, where God four times repeats that the 
punishment of His people will be ‘“‘seven times more”’ 
for their sins. Multiplying 360 days (one prophetic 
year) by 7 we have 2520 days (years) as the period 
of Gentile dominion and Israel’s subjugation. 

Another method of thus reckoning the “times of 
the Gentiles’ is based upon the periods of time 
recorded in the Revelation. We know that “a time, 
times, and half a time’ (Rev. 12:14) equals the 
1260 days of Rev. 11:3 and 12:6, and also equals 
the forty-two months of Rev. 13:5. Hence it is 
suggested that these are all cipher expressions to 
designate the same numerical value; and just as 
314 is half of seven, a “times, times and half a 
time’ is the half of ‘‘seven times,”’ therefore “seven 
times’ must equal 2 X 1,260 or 2,520 days, which, 
according to the “year-day” theory, means 2,520 
years. 

It is held that Israel’s punishments always are 
measured on the scale of “a day for a year,” as was 
the case when the people rebelled in the wilderness. 
Numbers 14:34. This principle is further empha- 
sized in the experience of the prophet Ezekiel, who 
was commanded to lie on each side so many days 
in order to bear the iniquity of Israel and of Judah, 
“each day for a year.” Ezek. 4: 4-6. 


04 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Whether or not the above method of reckon- 
ing be correct, or be objected to, it is significant 
that the year 1917 seems to have marked the 
beginning of Israel’s restoration to the land so long 
ago given to her. Opinions may differ as to the ex- 
act date, or dates, when the “times of the Gentiles” 
began, and there are other theories for calculating 
their length; for example, the use of the lunar, pro- 
phetic or solar year. Thus it behooves us not to be 
dogmatic or over-confident in this matter. For our- 
selves we are of the opinion that the “year-day”’ 
theory lacks Scriptural authority in estimating “the 
times of the Gentiles.” Moreover the language of 
prophecy demands a more literal and a future ful- 
filment of the times, the days, and the months of 
Rev. 12 and 13. But it may be that in much of pro- 
phetic chronology there is a double fulfilment. In 
any case the times of the Gentiles are nearing their 
end, and we shall be wise to watch the “signs of the 
times,’ believing that in the Divine program all 
events are dated, though not all are clearly revealed 
to us. 


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penetra esapecemes OO 


CHAPTER X 


SEEMING IMPROBABILITIES OF 
THE PROGRAM 


A program so vast and varied, involving such 
insuperable obstacles, encountering so great oppo- 
sition, might well stagger the faith of men. Be- 
cause of the complications and seeming impossibili- 
ties of the Divine program in individual experience 
men frequently have been mystified. Notwithstand- 
ing the revelation of God’s program for the world 
many have been pessimistic when they have be- 
held the disheartening conditions prevailing in our 
own day. The outlook upon the future often is 
clothed with somber hues. Hope becomes obscured. 
Therefore it may be helpful to examine some of the 
seeming improbabilities of the world-program. 

A glance at some of these apparent improbabili- 
ties will convince us of two striking facts: First, that 
the program is not of man, for no man would dare 
to have risked the forecast of history so filled with 
things seemingly impossible; and the second fact is 
that since so many of the improbabilities have ac- 
tually come to pass we can have faith to believe that 
things equally improbable will be fulfilled in their 


own good time. 
95 


96 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


THE SERVITUDE OF THE HAMITES? 


Take, for example, the outline of racial history 
handed down through Noah. Noah had prophesied 
that the descendants of Ham should become a race 
of servants. Gen. 9:25-27. This prophetic fore- 
cast of history Moses faithfully recorded although 
in his day such a program seemed wholly improba- 
ble. Appearances to Moses were entirely the oppo- 
site. All of the empires of earliest antiquity were 
Hamitic; for example, the great empire of Nimrod, 
that of the Hittites, the seven nations of Canaan, 
and the mighty kingdom of Egypt. The ascendancy 
of the posterity of the youngest son of Noah was 
everywhere in evidence. They dominated both Asia 
and Africa. Abraham and Moses knew of no dif- 
ferent history in their times and it continued for 
centuries after them. 

Since God seemed in no haste to carry out the 
Noahic program it became more and more improba- 
ble. But one after another the powerful Hamitic 
nations fell into the lowest depths of idolatry and 
sensuality and perished through their own corrup- 
tions. We behold the remnants of their greatness 
in the pyramids of Egypt, in the massive masonry 
buried in the mounds of the valleys of the Tigris 

1 For some of the leading suggestions in this chapter the 
writer is indebted to a volume entitled The Divine Programme 


of the World’s History, by H. Grattan Guinness, which is 
heartily recommended. 


on 


a 
i eee 


Sag eet 


IMPROBABILITIES OF THE PROGRAM 97 


and the Euphrates, and in the vain-glorious inscrip- 
tions carved upon tablets and temples. The record 
of their idolatries, immoralities, and corruptions 
proves that the descendants of Ham were unfit for 
world-rulership. The scepter was taken away from 
them. They continue to exist but only as degraded 
and enslaved peoples. Surely in respect to the Ham- 
ites improbability has become history. The mighti- 
est races of men became the weakest and most ser- 
vile. 


WORLD-BLESSING THROUGH ABRAHAM 


Passing by that portion of the program which de- 
picted the present enlargement and ascendancy of 
the Japhetic nations (Gen. 9:27), we turn to the 
staggering improbability of the promised world- 
blessings made to Abraham and his descendants. 
Gen. 12:2-3; 15:5; 17:1-6. Abraham was a 
Shemite. He belonged to that third of the race 
which was the least conspicuous. How improbable 
that from an aged and childless couple should come 
a multitude of nations, and that from a single family 
should come Divine blessing to all the families and 
nations upon the earth! We usually think of the de- 
scendants of Abraham as possessing and exercising 
spiritual blessing and authority. We point in con- 
firmation to Jew, Christian and Mohammedan. But 
we miss the seeming greater improbability that the 


98 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


promise made to Abraham also included political or 
governmental authority. Just as the admitted spir- 
itual supremacy of the seed of Abraham has been 
established, so also the political supremacy will have 
its fulfilment in God’s appointed time. 


UNIVERSAL SOVEREIGNTY OF THE HOUSE OF 
DAVID 


This brings us to the improbable sovereignty 
promised to the House of David. God covenanted 
with David to establish his throne for ever. It 
should be ‘fas the sun” before Him. His kingdom 
would be without end. A literal begotten son of 
David was to be the everlasting ruler. II Sam. 
7.127103 Psi 80: 3,'.4))(34-37.;' bso 32 70 area 
how could eternal sovereignty be promised to any 
son of David? How could an individual rule per- 
petually? Could anything be more improbable? 

Of this Son of David it also was prophesied: 
“He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and 
from the river unto the ends of the earth . . . yea, 
all kings shall fall down before him; all nations 
shall serve him.” Ps. 72:8-19. When we con- 
sider the separation of Israel from other nations, 
and their feebleness in David’s time in comparison 
with the great nations to the North and to the South 
of him, how impossible for David to have con- 
ceived of universal rulership in connection with his 


al 
at Se 


IMPROBABILITIES OF THE PROGRAM — 99 


kingdom! It surely was not a human conception 
but a Divine revelation. The improbability of such 
a kingdom is further increased by the fact that it 
was to be neither local, nor Jewish, nor temporary, 
but universal and unending, totally different from 
every other kingdom upon earth. 

It may be objected that no such king or kingdom 
has yet appeared upon the stage of history. This 
is true in part. The King, however, in due time was 
born, according to the prophecy and the identifica- 
tion of the angel Gabriel. Luke 1: 32, 33. And if 
the first part of his prophecy was duly fulfilled, why 
not the latter part in due time? 

We must remember that the present rejection of 
the Jewish nation, during the absence of the Heir to 
the throne of David, is an important part of the 
Divine program, written into it centuries ago: 
“For the children of Israel shall abide many days 
without king, and without prince, and without sacri- 
fice, and without pillar, and without ephod or tera- 
phim; afterward shall the children of Israel return, 
and seek Jehovah their God, and David their King, 
and shall come with fear unto Jehovah and to his 
goodness in the latter days.” Hos. 3:4, 5. ‘In the 
fulness of time’ the King was born. Since this 
improbability was overcome why should it be con- 
sidered impossible that “in the latter days” the re- 
mainder of the Davidic program should be carried 
out? 


100 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


We might make mention of other improbabilities 
in connection with the Son of David; for example, 
that He should be Divine as well as human; David’s 
Son, yet David’s Lord; that prior to His exaltation 
as king over the house of Jacob He must both suffer 
death and be raised from the dead; that in the inter- 
val prior to His earthly Kingdom He should sit at 
the right hand of God in heaven and rule from there. 
What marvelous improbabilities! Yet all of these 
have come to pass. Then why not the return from 
heaven in power and great glory? Why shall He 
not yet sit upon the throne of David, an earthly 
throne, and rule as King of Kings and Lord of 
Lords? Rev. 19: 16. 


IMPROBABILITIES ABOUT JERUSALEM 


After the apostles had accepted Christ as their 
Messiah how improbable to them must have seemed 
His words about the destruction of their temple and 
city and the present prolonged period of the tram- 
pling down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles! But since 
all of these events have come to pass, why can we 
not believe also that “the times of the Gentiles” are 
to end (Luke 21:24), and that Israel shall again 
come into political prominence, at which time_Jeru- 
salem shall become the joy of the whole earth? 


IMPROBABILITIES OF THE PROGRAM 101 


IMPROBABILITY OF THE JEWISH DISPERSION 


Christ foretold that the Jews were to fall by the 
edge of the sword and be led away captive into all 
the nations. The number of captives deported and 
later slain or enslaved was also very great. City and 
temple were destroyed and Jerusalem never since 
has been in possession of the Jews. To this day it 
remains “trodden down of the Gentiles” and the 
Jews are dispersed literally among all the nations of 
the earth. The Jew is omnipresent. But to the 
Jews this seemed utterly improbable. How could 
they, the Chosen Nation, be so dealt with? To the 
disciples the massive stones of the Temple were 
symbols of permanency. 


IMPROBABLE PRESERVATION 


Improbable as seemed the forthcoming destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem and the world-wide dispersion of 
the Jewish nation, these events were not more im- 
probable than the miraculous preservation of the 
Jews during their prolonged period of scatterment 
and suffering among the nations. Pillaged and 
plundered, mulcted and murdered, good citizens 
of all nations yet despised by all, they have been 
marvelously preserved unto the present hour. The 
only explanation is that this portion of their history 


102 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


is simply a part of the Divine program for them. 
At the very beginning of its institution as a nation 
Israel was forewarned that in case they turned back 
from following God He would chastise them with 
this very judgment. Deut. 28:64. Their plagues 
were to be wonderful and of long continuance. 
Deut. 28:59. 

Still more improbable it may seem to some that 
Israel is to have a future national existence. Yet 
this is as definitely foretold as the fact of their 
present dispersion. While scattered among all na- 
tions where Jehovah their God has driven them, they 
are yet to call to mind His words and return to 
Him. At that time Jehovah will turn their captivity 
and regather them, even though they be outcasts in 
the uttermost parts of heaven, and establish them 
again in their own land. Deut. 30: 1-5. How im- 
probable indeed! But not more so than their pres- 
ent preservation. 

Thus amid scenes of Jewish peace and prosperity 
Christ foretold coming disaster and doom as He 
looked into the hidden scenes of the future and un- 
folded to the disciples the outlines of the program of 
Jewish history during the times of His absence. 
Jesus even wept over Jerusalem as His eyes beheld 
what was coming. But He also foresaw an end of 
their sorrows and the final triumph of the Chosen 
Nation. 


IMPROBABILITIES OF THE PROGRAM 103 


IMPROBABLE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL 


Christ said to His disciples that He sent them 
forth as sheep among wolves. They were few in 
number and poor and ignorant, yet Christ com- 
manded them to go with the Gospel unto the utter- 
most parts of the earth. He told them that the field 
in which they were to sow the good seed was the 
world. Without prestige or wealth or experience 
or force they were to go forth to establish the 
Church of Christ and proclaim the coming of the 
Kingdom. How improbable such a _ program! 
They were to suffer the bitterest persecution; they 
were to proclaim a Saviour who had been crucified; 
yet they were promised success simply through the 
foolishness of preaching and the unseen power of 
the Holy Spirit. Possessing no power of their own 
they were to receive power from on high. Thus 
in weakness but in faith the disciples were to be in- 
struments in carrying out a seemingly impossible 
program. 

Contrary to human thought or plan the Divine 
program has measurably succeeded. The Roman 
empire was conquered by the Gospel within the first 
three centuries and to-day the entire earth is 
mapped out and the heralds of the Cross are pushing 
into every unevangelized corner of the earth. False 
teaching and apostasy have retarded the spread of 


104 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


the Gospel, yet it has been triumphant and is still 
“the power of God unto salvation” to every one 
that believeth. Human weakness is God’s oppor- 


tunity. What is impossible to men is victory to 
God. 


eo” 


CHAPTER XI 


CHIEF METHOD AND IMPORTANT 
PRINCIPLES OF THE PROGRAM 


Any well-thought-out program that is designed 
to accomplish a definite object, such as God’s pro- 
gram for man, must include certain methods and 
principles of operation. What is the procedure? 
What are the underlying principles which govern 
the carrying out of the program as a whole? What 
is the Divine method? How is God working? 


THE METHOD OF PROCESS AND CRISIS 


In putting through His world-program God 
adopted the method of alternating process and crisis. 
God foresaw that the attainment of the ultimate 
goal for man would require long stretches of time 
for growth and also short acute crises, followed by 
a repetition of the method under new conditions and 
by the introduction of new principles. 

We may best understand this recurrent method 
of the program by a study of its working during 
the present epochal period. We call this present 
period the Christian or Church Age, in contrast with 


the Mosaic Age. It is the Age of Grace rather 
105 


106 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


than the Age of Law. Our Lord’s parable of the 
Wheat and the Tares clearly reveals to us the Divine 
method of operation. First the seed sowing, which 
characterizes the beginning of the age, next the 
longer period that is required for growth, then the 
short time of the harvest. Such in brief is the 
method of carrying out the program in each of its 
great sections; and thus the great epochs of history 
as designed by God help to carry forward His pur- 
poses to their final consummation. 

Holding our attention still to the method of the 
program as revealed for our own age we discover 
two different sowers, two different seeds, and two 
different harvests. Matt. 13: 24-30, 37-43. At the 
commencement of the age the Son of Man sowed the 
good seed, but Satan sowed tares: “The good seed, 
these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are 
the sons of the evil one.”” Out of these two sow- 
ings of two totally different seeds will come a har- 
vest to the glory of God and a harvest for the fur- 
nace of fire. 

Such is the history not only of our own age, but 
of each of the great dispensations of history. Take 
the first, or Edenic Age. The Garden contained 
God’s man and woman. The environment was per- 
fect, a paradise. Into it came Satan and sin. Judg- 
ment swiftly followed. | 

More clearly we see the method in operation 
during the second, or Antediluvian Age, since that 


METHOD AND PRINCIPLES 107 


age was sufficiently prolonged for fuller examina- 
tion. It began with a vivid knowledge of the awful- 
ness of sin and also with God’s provision for it by 
sacrifice; but sin soon entered. Cain was rebuked 
for his lack of faith because he did not bring the 
required sacrificial offering. The rebuke did not 
cure, but led only to the further sin of murder. 
Gen. 4: 4-8 (R. V.). Thus did Cain show himself 
to be a child of Satan, who was a “‘murderer from 
the beginning.” John 8: 44. 

Seth was born to take the place of righteous Abel. 
Then the two seeds were allowed ample time for 
development. The evil progeny of Cain finally pre- 
dominated and it became necessary for God to end 
that age with the Flood and start a new age. Such 
in the large is God’s method of carrying out this 
program. It is one of repeated alternation of proc- 
ess and crisis, of seed-time, growth, and harvest. 
‘Thus man is being tested, sifted and developed by 
the very method by which God is carrying out His 
program. 


DIVINE PRINCIPLES OF PROCEDURE 


Underlying the method of alternating process and 
crisis are certain principles of Divine action which 
are applicable to each of the great epochs into which 
the world-program is divided. These are simple 
but effective. The first principle is that God starts 


108 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


each period aright and with sufficient direct revela- 
tion for man’s guidance during that period. The 
record is sometimes very incomplete, but we may be 
assured that the revelation was sufficient. We have 
only to remind ourselves of the Divine revelations 
given to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham and to Moses 
at the commencement of the great ages, and par- 
ticularly of the fuller revelation through Christ and 
the New Testament writers at the beginning of the 
Church Age. Sometimes, moreover, while an age 
was in process of developing, during seasons of 
apostasy God raised up prophets through whom He 
could speak a living message to His people by way 
of appeal to the program as already revealed, or 
even to add to that revelation new features by way 
either of warning or encouragement. 

The second principle of Divine procedure is the 
non-intervention of God while a distinct section of 
His program is in process of unfolding. Having 
started the program aright God holds off His hands 
in order to give man full swing. Man is thus tested 
both with a view to his ability or his faithlessness. 
In either case the world-program as such moves for- 
ward. God does not intervene except when neces- 
sary to preserve His own people or to prevent His 
program from miscarrying. An instance of this lat- 
ter would be the destruction of the hosts of Sen- 
nacherib when they besieged Jerusalem. At a later 
time, however, God permitted Jerusalem to be de- 


METHOD AND PRINCIPLES 109 


stroyed in order that He might temporarily punish 
His people for their failure to adhere to the pro- 
gram. 

The third principle is that in the time of the har- 
vest God directly intervenes to reward His own for 
their faithful service and to punish the wicked for 
their ungodliness. The good seed is saved to sow 
the new age, while the ungodly are destroyed from 
the earth. This was the principle at work when 
God spared Noah and his family while He over- 
whelmed the remainder of mankind; also when He 
preserved the nation of Israel while He destroyed 
the Egyptians. At the close of the present age the 
same principle will be in full force, when God will 
take the Church unto Himself, preserve the faithful 
remnant of Israel, and bring dire judgments upon 
the world of the ungodly. 

Having knowledge of God’s alternating method 
of process and crisis in carrying out the sectional 
parts of His world-program, and knowing also some 
of the recurring principles which guide Him in His 
dealings with men, we have a clearer understanding 
of the times in which we live. May this knowledge 
give us the calm and the courage to faithfully do our 
part. The harvest of the present age may be nearer 
than we have been accustomed to think. 


CHAPTER XII 


AGENTS AND AGENCIES IN THE 
PROGRAM 


God is continuously active in the affairs of men. 
He not only made His program for the world, and 
though at times seemingly thwarted He is actively 
engaged in carrying it out. Employing His own 
processes He will bring to its timely consummation 
the program planned in eternity. 

God not only has comprehensive plans but also 
efficient agents and agencies. He makes use of 
both men and angels who are in harmony with Him 
and His plans. All of the hidden forces of the uni- 
verse are ready to do His bidding. Should ap- 
pointed agents fail and plans seem to miscarry in 
their ordinary operation then God Himself directly 
intervenes in supernatural ways. Whatever the 
contingency the program moves steadily forward. 


CHOSEN INDIVIDUALS 


Beginning with Noah we have an illustrious in- 
stance of how God furthers His program in an 
emergency by making use of a qualified individual. 


We say “qualified,” for God knows His man and un- 
110 


: 
: 


AGENTS AND AGENCIES IN PROGRAM 11! 


erringly selects the one who is fitted for the excep- 
tional service to which God calls him. Such was 
Noah, the only man who walked with God. Gen. 
6:9. He knew God and God knew him. God 
trusted Noah and revealed to him the next step in 
the unfolding and accomplishment of His racial pro- 
gram. Because of the utter corruption of men’s. 
hearts and because of the lawlessness and violence 
which filled the earth God determined to speed its 
doom. The Flood came and hastened the natural 
catastrophe which would have come if such deplor- 
able conditions had been permitted to continue, 
God not only swept the hopelessly wicked from the 
earth, but He also provided safety for His own in 
the midst of that overwhelming disaster. He did 
this not only for the sake of Noah and his family, 
but also because this preservation was necessary for 
the furtherance of His program. The race must be 
started anew. Righteous Noah and his family, 
possessing knowledge of the woeful results of sin, 
were the chosen seed of the new dispensation. 
Noah was essential to the Divine program. 
Likewise when mankind again revolted from God 
at the Tower of Babel and the race turned away to 
idolatry, God “gave them up” (Rom. 1: 21-25) and 
fixed upon the man whom God could call His friend. 
He did this in order to save both His program and, 
the race; for in the choice of Abraham and his fam- 
ily God did not utterly discard the remainder of the 


112 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


race, but planned through the seed of Abraham 
eventually to redeem the race. 

Again God wonderfully furthered His program 
through His servant Moses. He was another of the 
giants of history. Through him God wrought 
wonders in Egypt and marvelously delivered the 
Chosen Nation through which He purposed to bring 
blessing to all the other nations of the earth. Out 
of this nation also God in due time raised up King 
David, a man after His own heart, who firmly es- 
tablished the nation as an object-lesson of God’s 
ideal to the surrounding nations. So long as the 
Chosen Nation maintained its part of the covenant 
relations to God, He wonderfully prospered and 
magnified it. But sin entered and God was de- 
throned. 

Then God raised up a special class of men called 
prophets. And what men they were! Isaiah, Jere- 
miah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and men of like faith and 
fiber. Through them God spoke living messages to 
His sinning people, seeking to restrain and reform 
the nation that was so vital to His program. 

Special mention also ought to be made of Joseph, 
who by mysterious providences was sent beforehand 
into Egypt and exalted to the premiership in order, 
as he said, to preserve much people alive (Gen. 
50:20), in particular the Chosen Family, which 
was to develop mightily while in Egypt. Surely, 
too, we shall not forget another instance of Divine 


AGENTS AND AGENCIES IN PROGRAM 113 


deliverance of the Nation in a most critical hour, 
after the decree had gone forth and the day set for 
the extermination of the people of God. This time 
God chose a woman. Like Joseph she too was 
taken from obscurity and exalted to a position of 
superlative importance. God’s hand was in it all. 
And when she realized that possibly she “had come 
to the kingdom for such a time as this,’ Queen 
Esther was willing to take her life in her hand, enter 
into the presence of the king unbidden, and to cou- 
tageously plead for the life of her people. 

We might make mention of Daniel also and the 
prominent part he was called upon to take in the 
royal court of Nebuchadnezzer and his successors 
during the time of the captivity. 

Finally came John the Baptist and the Apostles. 
Thus we might continue to enumerate individuals 
raised up in times of special crisis who were trusted 
agents of God to play important parts in carrying 
out His program. In modern times mention might 
be made of Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, 
John Wesley, and Dwight L. Moody. Who can 
doubt how important the human individual is as the 
chosen agent for the furtherance of the Divine 
program? . 

Special attention should be called to the uncon- 
scious early training of all these individuals for the 
great work God was preparing them to do when the 
crisis should arise which He foresaw. What unto- 


114 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


ward and adverse elements often entered into these 
lives! How little they suspected how great the work 
for which God was preparing them! God is de- 
pendent upon human individuals, none of them per- 
fect instruments, for the success of His world-pro- 
gram. Hence the care He takes and the sharp in-, 
struments He sometimes must use in order to shape 
and mold His agents for the tasks He is equipping 
them to perform. We recall the “iron furnace” of 
Egypt which God used and out of which He gra- 
ciously brought His people, fitted for unparalleled 
service. 


ANGELS AS MINISTERING SPIRITS 


God is not wholly dependent upon human agents. 
They have accomplished much, but also have failed 
in much. Not so His angels. In times past there 
seems to have been a revolt in heaven among the 
angels, for which punishment still awaits (Jude 6), 
but the Psalmist truly says that they are mighty in 
strength, that they hearken unto the voice of Jeho- 
vah and fulfil His word. Ps. 103:20. In the 
extreme crisis in Christ’s life He had the power to 
summon to His aid twelve legions of angels. He 
had but to say the word and they would have swept 
to His side and annihilated His enemies. They are 
obedient to His commands. 

Angels have special missions as well as men. 


AGENTS AND AGENCIES IN PROGRAM 115 


They are said to be “ministering spirits, sent forth 
to do service for the sake of them who shall inherit 
salvation.”’ Heb. 1:14. “The angel of Jehovah 
encampeth round about them that fear him, and de- 
livereth them.” Ps. 34:7. When Jacob blessed 
Joseph and his sons he gratefully acknowledged his 
indebtedness to God who had fed him all of his life, 
and also to the angel who had redeemed him from 
all evil. Gen. 48:16. Daniel also testified to King 
Darius: ‘““My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut 
the lion’s mouth, and they have not hurt me.” This, 
too, was the experience of Daniel’s three friends 
when they were cast into the fiery furnace. Dan. 
6:28. Recall also how two angels laid hold upon 
Lot and his family and hastened them out of doomed 
Sodom. Gen. 19:15, 16. Peter and John knew 
what it was to have an angel of the Lord open their 
prison doors and set them free. Acts 5:19. Most 
of our deliverances, however, are more like that of 
Peter when again in prison; and when the angel 
knocked off his chains and opened the prison doors, 
Peter was unaware that it was an angel until all was 
accomplished. Acts 12:9, II. 

Angels have also had a part in revealing the 
Divine program as well as in executing it. Daniel 
was given power to interpret dreams and prophecies 
to kings, but was unable to interpret his own apoc- 
alyptic visions. Angels know more of God’s pro- 
gram for men than men themselves know. We see 


116 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


this strikingly manifest in Gabriel’s interpretation 
of Daniel’s famous vision of the Seventy Weeks 
which were so vitally connected with the future his- 
tory of his people. All was perfectly plain to 
Gabriel. Dan. 9: 24-27. At a later time he was 
sent to Zacharias and to Mary to announce the birth 
of John and of Jesus, and also to outline the all- 
important work they were to accomplish in the 
program. 


ANGELS AS AGENTS OF WRATH 


Angels are “ministering spirits,’ but not always. 
The men of Sodom who would do violence to Lot 
and his guests were suddenly smitten with blindness 
by the two angels. Gen. 19:11. When David 
was punished for his sin of numbering the people 
an angel had charge of the pestilence that slew 
seventy thousand men in three days. Only the re- 
straining mercy of Jehovah prevented the angel 
from destroying Jerusalem. II Sam. 24:16. Was 
it this same angel that smote the army of Assyrians, 
slaying one hundred and eighty-five thousand in a 
single night? II Kings 19:35. 

In the period of judgment with which the Church 
Age ends angels are to take a most active part. They 
are the reapers of the world’s harvest. They will 
garner the wheat, but they also will first gather the 
tares into bundles and burn them: “The Son of 
Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall 


AGENTS AND AGENCIES IN PROGRAM 117 


gather out of his kingdom all things that cause 
stumbling and them that do iniquity, and shall 
cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be 
weeping and the gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 13: 41. 
Portraying this same consummation of the age the 
Apostle Paul declares that at the revelation of the 
Lord Jesus from heaven He will be attended by the 
angels of His power in flaming fire who shall render 
vengeance to them that know not God and to them 
who obey not His gospel. II Thess. 1:7,8.  Es- 
pecially prominent in the Apocalypse are the angels 
as executioners of God’s wrath. There they are 
the chief agents who execute the will of God in that 
period of awful doom for the earth. Recall the 
angel who is to send forth his sharp sickle to reap 
that portion of the earth that is destined for the 
great winepress of the wrath of God. Rev. 
14:17-20. In the Apocalypse angels are every- 
where active, whether in heaven or upon earth, until 
all of the enemies of Christ are overthrown and 
His kingdom established; whether it be to cast the 
Devil and his angels out of the heavenly places 
(12: 7-9), or whether it be the announcing and in- 
flicting of plagues upon men. 


NATIONS AS DIVINE AGENTS 


National sins are visited upon nations as such, and 
God often employs nations as instruments of His 


118 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


wrath. Take, for example, the nation of Israel. 
In Genesis the fifteenth chapter occurs a mysterious 
reference to the Amorites: “For the iniquity of the 
Amorites is not yet full’ (v. 16). The interpreta- 
tion is given four hundred years later in Leviticus 
the eighteenth chapter, which describes a hopelessly 
immoral condition. The children of Israel were 
commanded not to defile themselves with the gross 
sins of the inhabitants of Canaan, whose incurable 
sins caused their doom. They were to be cast out 
of the land because of their iniquity. Their hope- 
less condition brought upon them the judgment of 
God in the form of the nation of Israel, which be- 
came_the executioner of God’s wrath. “Israel was 
to show.no mercy and to. utterly ‘destroy those seven 
nations, which. were. greater and ‘mightier than ‘they. 
Deut. 7:1,.2. Should Israel fail to drive out these 
“nations then they i in turn would be used of God later 
to afflict Israel. They would be as pricks in their 
eyes and as thorns in their sides. Num. 33:55, 56. 

Just as God used Israel to punish the inhabitants 
of Canaan for their idolatry and corruption, so in 
later times He employed the neighboring nations to 
chastise Israel. The history of the times of the 
Judges is a record of the alternate blessing and 
cursing of the Chosen Nation. So long as the peo- 
ple obeyed God they prospered; but whenever they 
apostatized and turned away to idolatry God used 


+ 


AGENTS AND AGENCIES IN PROGRAM 119 


the surrounding nations to chastise and enslave 
them. 

Various chastisements were inflicted upon Israel 
during the period of the Monarchy, such as drought, 
pestilence, mildew, locusts, failure of crops, and 
physical ailments. Deut. 28:15-24. These were 
remedial, but served only to check the growing apos- 
tasy. The last resort was subjugation to their 
enemies, which ended finally in the uprooting of 
Israel and transplanting her to foreign lands; first 
the Northern Kingdom and later the Southern 
Kingdom. 

There is a striking passage in the tenth chapter 
of Isaiah: “Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, 
the staff in whose hand is mine indignation! I will 
send him against a profane nation, and against the 
people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take 
the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them 
down like the mire in the streets.” Isa. 10:5, 6. 

The King of Assyria had no knowledge that he 
was an instrument of God. His ruling purpose was 
simply one of boastful conquest and self-glorifica- 
ou Isaiah tO: 7-11, 13, 14. \ Therefore God ‘in 
turn would punish him: “Wherefore it shall come 
to pass, that, when the Lord hath performed his 
whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, 
I will punish the fruit of the proud heart of the 
King of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.” 


120 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Verse 12. In due time God accomplished this judg- 
ment upon A’ssyria by the Babylonians. The use of 
nations as the agents of God’s wrath is one of the 
commonest facts of history. 


ANIMATE NATURE AS AN AGENCY 


God uses not only men and angels, but also all of 
the forces of nature, both animate and inanimate. 
When we think of animate nature as an agency of 
God we have chiefly in mind judgments in the form 
of lice, flies, frogs, locusts, the cankerworm, and the 
mildew. In our own days we must also add the 
plagues caused by microbe or germ diseases, with 
which the medical profession often confesses its in- 
ability to cope. It is estimated that more lives were 
lost by the “flu” than upon the battlefields of the 
recent great war. Man is quite helpless before the 
onslaught of infinitesimal germ diseases. 


INANIMATE AGENCIES 


Even the inanimate forces of nature would be 
employed either for blessing or cursing upon the 
nation of Israel. Deut. 28. If they continued 
loyal to Him then Jehovah would “open unto them 
the good treasure of the heavens, to give the rain 
of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of 
thy hand.’ V. 12. But in case of disobedience 


AGENTS AND AGENCIES IN PROGRAM 121 


and apostasy, “And the heaven that is over thy 
head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee 
shall be iron.” “Jehovah will make the rain of thy 
land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come 
down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.” 

While still in Egypt, during those three days 
of inky darkness which was felt over all the 
land, the children of Israel had light in all their 
dwellings. Ex. 10: 21-23. In their great battle at 
Gibeon against ten allied Kings “Jehovah cast down 
great stones from heaven,” and more were killed by 
these hailstones than were slain by the sword. 
Joshua 10:11. 

“And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and 
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became 
black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon be- 
came as blood; and the stars of the heaven fell 
unto the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs 
when she is shaken of a great wind. And the heaven 
was _Temoved - as a scroll when it is rolled up; and 
every “fountain and « every island were moved out of 
their places.” Rev. 6: 12-14. 

The Book of Revelation has many instances of 
nature’s forces being employed by God in judgment. 
The seventh in each of the Seal, the Trumpet, and 
the Vial judgments are quite similar. Each makes 
mention of voices in heaven which are followed by 
lightnings and thunders and a great earthquake, by 
means of which God’s wrath is to be accomplished 


122 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


upon’ the jéarth,) “Rey. 8553 (E155 0 07, o. 
These exceptional powers of nature, however, are 
seldom employed except in the great crises periods 
of history. 

Thus we see that the resources of God are un- 
limited. Men and angels and all terrestrial and celes- 
tial forces are subservient to God in the carrying out 
of His world-program. Satan and his angels, evil 
men, however gifted or however strongly organized, 
are unable to frustrate the plans of God. They are 
moving forward to certain victory. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE PROBLEM OF EVIL IN THE 
PROGRAM 


Certain apparent contradictions in God’s program 
often perplex souls that are sincere. Not all of the 
mysteries of life can be fully and satisfactorily 
solved, for we see only the arcs and not the com- 
pleted circle of the Divine program. 


THE PROBLEM OF EVIL 


How can the Divine program be a good program 
when the world is so filled with evil? How can God 
be good and so often allow evil to be victorious? 
If God is good why does He not put down evil at 
once? Is evil necessary to the Divine program? If 
Christ is going to bind Satan sometime, why does 
He not do it now? 

Such are some of the oft-recurring questions of 
thoughtful people. The ease with which men sin 
is appalling. Sin is subtly contagious. Strong 
currents of greed and lawlessness and crime 
are causing the serious-minded to wonder towards 
what possible vortex we are being more and more 


swiftly borne along. In the presence of organized 
123 


124 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


evil we feel quite helpless. So must it have seemed 
to Noah when “every imagination of the thoughts 
of man’s heart was only evil continually,’ and when 
lawlessness and violence filled the earth. Gen. 
6:5, 11, 12. Those days of Noah will be repeated. 

God is not the author of evil, but since it found 
its way into the world He permits it. And since He 
permits its continuance it must play an important 
part in the world-program. 


EVIL AFFORDS OPPORTUNITY FOR VICTORY 


The goal towards which God is working is ideal 
men and women living in an ideal world. Adam 
as created was not God’s ideal man, for he was an 
untested man. Testing was necessary to develop 
his moral fiber. Adam failed under the testing. 
God’s ideal man is Jesus Christ, for He was victo- 
rious under every form of testing. God permits 
evil, but man need not succumb to it. Its purpose 
is to give man the repeated opportunity to conquer 
the enemy who once defeated him. 

It was not necessary to sin in order to develop 
the highest type of character. While God’s ideal is 
righteousness, not innocence, a personal experience 
of sin is not necessary to the attainment of the Di- 
vine goal. All that is necessary to develop moral 
fiber and beauty and grandeur of character is the 
constant choice of right in preference to evil. 


, 
ae 
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Is LO Sf” — 


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fn 
oe 


in 


_* Pe 


PROBLEM OF EVIL IN THE PROGRAM § 125 


While temptation is necessary for the forming of 
character the yielding to it is not a part of the Di- 
vine program. Righteousness may be maintained 
in the presence of temptation, but not apart from 
God. Faith in God is the supreme lesson that His 
program reveals in all the course of human history. 

Evil is here, but so is God. Temptation comes, 
but with it the way of escape. Satan seeks our 
downfall » but Christ. is. Satan’ 's_master. Nc never 
are tempted above what we are able to bear. “Weak 
in ourselves God offers His ever- present help. We 
have only to lean upon His all-sufficiency. 

History is filled with the ruins of individuals and 
communities and civilizations that have thought to 
live apart from God. New generations seem never 
to be able to learn from former. God’s Word, too, 
is full of danger signals to guard us against the 
mud-holes, the sharp turns, and the swift trains of 
sin. These warnings make the wise alert, but fools 
pass on and are punished. 


WHY THE LONG CONFLICT? 


God is training men and women to play some big 
part in the future. He wants men and women of 
stalwart moral character upon whom He can de- 
pend. The present is a hard and long schooling. 
In the conflict with evil, millenniums are none too 
long to produce that type of character in man which 


126 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM: 


by the grace of God will endure the testings of eter- 
nity. Many are the graving tools of pain and mis- 
take and misfortune that are necessary to produce 
the highest type of man, one who will respond in- 
stantly and wholly to the love of God and continu- 
ously choose His will as the best. 

We are not to charge God with the evil that is in 
the world. Evil was introduced into human experi- 
ence and history by the will of man. He deliber- 
ately chose it. God did not purpose it. God has 
only provided for it. Evil may result from our own 
misdeeds, through inherited tendencies or through 
the sin or neglect of others. Shall we charge God 
with these? Verily they are not part of His origi- 
nal program. He foresaw but did not cause them. 
He permits them, however, for some great ultimate 
good. He could terminate evil now, but it would be 
unwise to do so before the final stage of His pro- 
gram for man is completed. 


EVIL OVERRULED 


An old, old story may help us to understand that 
although evil may befall us God can overrule it for 
our good and the good of others. The story is that 
of Joseph. Joseph knew what it was to be hated by 
his own brothers, to be betrayed, enslaved, slan- 
dered, and imprisoned. The sharp prongs of evil 
drove themselves deeply and repeatedly into his very 


PROBLEM OF EVIL IN THE PROGRAM § 127 


soul. All without a murmur from him and without 
a stain upon his character. He had faith in God’s 
overruling program, and was amply rewarded. 
Later, also, he was able to instruct his conscience- 
stricken brothers who came supplicating Joseph’s 
leniency and forgiveness. In the greatness of his 
soul Joseph replied: “Am I in the place of God? 
And as for you ye meant evil against me; but God 
meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, 
to save much people alive.” Gen, 50: 15-21. Thus 
does God overrule the evil that creeps into the pro- 
gram. 

Happy indeed the soul that believes in God’s all- 
embracing purposes which can turn even evil into 
good. He is not the author of evil, but He can use 
it to further His program. Not that sin is neces- 
“sary to that program, but that the program of God 
will go forward in spite of all of the opposing evil 
forces in the world to the contrary. 


GOD NOT HELPLESS 


Men may openly defy God’s will. Currents of 
human passion may threaten shipwreck of His plans. 
God is not helpless even amid the seeming wreck- 
age. Always He is master. “Ye meant evil 
against me; but God meant it unto good.” Re- 
peatedly Joseph’s life seemed doomed to failure; 
but every adverse circumstance, like great billows 


128 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


of the storm-tossed sea, served only to carry him 
higher. This doubtless did not always seem so at 
the time, but Joseph continued to trust God, and God 
used the hate, the false accusation, the prison. 
Likewise God used the arrest, the shipwrecks, and 
the imprisonments of Paul both to enrich him and to 
further the Gospel. Every life wholly committed 
to God is borne safely along upon the strong cur- 
rent of God’s all-embracing purposes towards His 
appointed harbor. Every storm and disaster He 
can turn into victory and blessing. 


CHAPTER XIV 


FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY IN 
RELATION TO THE PROGRAM 


How can God be supreme and man be free? 
How can God be sovereign while man has freedom 
of choice? How can God carry out His program 
for man if man determines to carry out his own 
program? 

These seem like contradictory facts. In them- 
selves they are. But if our wills are in accord with 
God’s will, all is well. Harmony prevails. Things 
are accomplished because of good team work. But 
when we determine to go our own way instead of 
God’s way, then trouble comes. We pull apart. 
The delicately adjusted machinery of life gets out 
of order. Perhaps some of the gears or shafts or 
springs break. 


A SEEMING PARADOX 


That God is a sovereign God, “who doeth accord- 
ing to His will in the armies of heaven and among 
the inhabitants of the earth,’ cannot be disproved. 
Equally true is it that we all are conscious of exer- 


cising free choice in every great venture or in the 
129 


130 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


smallest details of life. Man is self-determining. 
If he were otherwise God could not and would not 
hold him accountable for his acts. Such are the 
facts. Belief in God’s sovereignty tends to make 
us lean upon God and trust ourselves to Him, while 
consciousness of our own freedom of choice tends 
to heighten our responsibility for our actions. 


LIMITATION OF FREEDOM 


God is sovereign, yet man is free. “Contradic- 
tory,” you say. Only seemingly so. God in His 
sovereignty made man a free moral agent. To this 
extent God voluntarily limited His sovereignty, but 
did not decrease or forfeit it. Man is free to act 
only within the prescribed limits of Divine “sover- 
eignty. God still occupies the throne. Man is free 
‘to act, yet God carries out His own program. Man 
is free to choose, but the results of his choosing may 
be a benefit or a bane to him. If he chooses to make 
God’s will his will, man links himself with all that 
is good; but if he chooses a way contrary to God’s 
way, he brings upon himself only evil continually. 


THE CASE OF PHARAOH 


It is difficult to harmonize God’s sovereignty and 
man’s free agency in the abstract; but in concrete 
instances both truths are manifest in their workings. 


eg, OE ie 


FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY = 131 


Take, for example, the historic instance of God’s 
hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. The program of 
God for the furthering of His purposes included the 
going down into Egypt of the Chosen Family, there 
to develop into a great nation. Gen. 46:3, 4. The 
Divine program also called for the nation to leave 
Egypt and return to the Chosen Land. Gen. 
15: 13-16. When the time arrived for God to de- 
liver His people from their Egyptian oppressors He 
appeared to Moses in the desert at Mt. Horeb and 
commissioned him to go to Pharaoh and get permis- 
sion to depart with the children of Israel. Ex. 
3:10, 12, 18. His purpose was more fully stated 
later. Ex.6:5-8. But Moses was forewarned that 
Pharaoh would refuse the request. Ex. 3:19. 
God said that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart. 
This hardening was not a special judgment, but a 
natural spiritual process. God did not harden 
Pharaoh’s heart so that he could not let His people 
go, but his heart was hardened because he would 
not let them go. God’s will was to deliver His peo- 
ple from Egypt, but in accomplishing His purpose 
He had regard to Pharaoh’s free choice in the mat- 
ter. As we read the record each crisis reveals 
Pharaoh making his own deliberate decisions. He 
was at perfect liberty to let the people go or not 
just as he chose. At first he was utterly defiant: 
“Who is Jehovah that I should hearken unto his 
voice to let Israel gor’ Ex. 5:2. Likewise in 


132 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


each of the following instances when demand was 
made by Moses Pharaoh is seen to be free to choose. 
God did not override his will. He never does that. 
Pharaoh finally gave his consent, not because he 
wished to do so indeed, but because he saw it was 
to his best interest to do so. 

God did not harden Pharaoh’s heart in any auto- 
cratic, arbitrary manner, but through the acts of 
Pharaoh himself. Take these expressions: “Pha- 
raoh’s heart is stubborn, he refuseth to let the peo- 
ple go;” “he hardened his heart;’’ “Pharaoh hard- 
ened his heart this time also;” “he sinned yet more, 
and hardened his heart, he and his people.”’ Thus 
Pharaoh acting voluntarily was responsible for the 
hardening of his own heart. Take his own confes- 
sion: ‘Tl have’ sinned this time, > hx 92272) 3e 
was fully conscious of acting from no compulsion. 


TWO SPIRITUAL LAWS 


Two spiritual laws are seen in operation here. 
One is revealed in Ex. 43:21: “See that thou do 
before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put 
in thy hand: but I will harden his heart.” The law 
might be stated thus: The rejection of God’s revela- 
tion unfailingly produces hardening of the heart. 
It was the sure operation of this law that caused the 
hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. God manifested 


FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY = 133 


himself in those wonders to such an extent that 
Pharaoh was convinced that He indeed was Je- 
hovah, the God of the whole earth; but in the 
light of that revelation Pharaoh remained stub- 
born and obdurate. Thus he hardened his heart 
yet more and more with each new manifestation of 
God’s power. This is a spiritual law and unfail- 
ingly operative. By it God hardened Pharaoh’s 
heart through the very choices which Pharaoh vol- 
untarily and repeatedly made. 

The other law is that repeated refusals to hearken 
to God’s voice accelerate and fix the hardening proc- 
ess. Forewarnings came and judgments fell with 
increasing severity upon the Egyptians. Pharaoh 
at times softened and partially yielded. He went so 
far as to confess his sin, but afterwards changed 
his mind and became more and more rebellious, until 
at the close of the ninth plague he reached the climax 
of his defiance: ‘‘Get thee from me, take heed to 
thyself, see my face no more: for in the day thou 
seest my face thou shalt die.’”’ The hardening proc- 
ess had reached its climax. Up to this point there 
had been hope for Pharaoh. Beyond this point no 
room was left for repentance. The hardening proc- 
ess had proceeded so far that by his own act he 
brought upon himself and his people the final fear- 
some judgment of the slaying of the firstborn of 
all the land of Egypt. 


134 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


THE GUILT OF JUDAS 


Again we may see the working of God’s sov- 
ereignty and man’s free agency in the events of the 
Crucifixion: “The things which God foreshadowed 
by the mouth of the prophets, that the Christ should 
suffer, he thus fulfilled.” Acts 3:18. To this end 
it was necessary that Jesus should be betrayed. Yet 
He said, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of 
man is betrayed. Good were it for that man that 
he had not been born.” The prophecy of the Cruci- 
fixion was plainly written into the program. It 
was a necessity. Yet the betrayer of Jesus plotted 
and acted from no sense of necessity but from free 
choice. Judas in remorse finally confessed: “T 
have betrayed innocent blood.” He was conscious 
of having acted freely in the matter, and knew that 
he must bear the responsibility. 


THE CRIME OF THE CRUCIFIXION 


The Apostles were not mystified by these things, 
and why should we be? Peter boldly assailed the 
leaders of Israel with such words as these: “Him, 
being delivered up by the determinate council and 
foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless 
men did crucify and slay.” Acts 2:23. The early 
Church clearly saw, according to Psalm 2:25, 26, 
that both Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles 


me 


FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY 135 


and Israelites, purposed to do to Jesus whatsoever 
God foreordained to come to pass. Acts 4: 24-29. 
The Crucifixion was in God’s program, but the men 
who took part in the infamous deed did so by their 
own voluntary choice as free moral agents. Man 
is free, and hence accountable; but his freedom is 
within the realm of God’s sovereignty. Because of 
that all-embracing sovereignty God is able to carry 
forward His world-program either with the co- 
operation of men or by overruling their opposi- 
tion, all the while holding men accountable to Him 
because of their own freedom of choice. 


CHAPTER XV 
THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING 


Another of the conflicting problems of the Divine 
program is that of suffering. How can God love us 
and yet endure to see us suffer? How is it pos- 
sible for love to inflict suffering? The mystery of 
Christ’s sufferings is baffling. How can God suffer? 
Why are the awful sufferings of individuals, masses, 
and peoples permitted to continue? The problem 
of suffering is as old and older than the Book of 
Job. What is its place in the program? 


REAL OR IMAGINARY? 


According to one modern heresy the way to dis- 
pose of suffering is to deny its reality. It teaches 
that there is no pain, no suffering. These exist only 
in thought and imagination. Think good and peace- 
ful thoughts and you will not experience bodily 
suffering, will not be sick. But no such easy proc- 
ess of denial is effective in its working. Thus far 
suffering and death are the common lot of men. 
Christian Science may self-hypnotize men and seem 
to produce the desired results temporarily in some 


cases, and even to effect healings, but the very heal- 
136 


THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING 137 


ers themselves sicken and die just like other men of 
clay. 


NO IMMUNITY 


Another and more devout class would have us be- 
lieve that for the Christian there need be no sickness 
if only we have been rightly instructed and have faith 
of the right kind. Then we can have immunity 
from all bodily suffering. No doubt God can and 
often does heal the sick directly in response to the 
prayer of faith, but this does not prove that suffering 
has no part in the Divine program; and the people 
who hold this doctrine, although they may have ex- 
perienced Divine healing, also sicken and die. 


FACING THE FACTS 


So we had better face the facts. Suffering is 
here, actual, immeasurable, awful! Think of the 
tragedy and the frightfulness of the world-war. 
Think of the various hungry and suffering masses 
in India and elsewhere, of the oppressed, and of the 
outcast. Yes; suffering is here. Always has been 
_ since sin entered, and will continue unto the end. 
| Ina world of sin suffering is a necessity. But what 
about it? Is God still a God of love? 

One answer to that last question is given in the 
inspired Word: “Whom the Lord loveth he chas- 


138 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


teneth.” We better believe it and so live as not to 
merit the chastening rod. When rightly received Di- 
vine affliction is helpful and remedial. The filial 
heart always responds to loving chastisements ; while 
rebellion, as in Pharaoh, leads only to final doom. 
Far wiser the faith of patient Job: “Though he 
slay me, yet will I wait for him.” Job 13:15 
(R. V., mar.). But we are not to think of sufferings 
as always due to the chastisements of God. More 
often they are due to our own follies or to circum- 
stances beyond our control. 


CLASSIFICATION OF SUFFERINGS 


It may help us to better understand the place and 
the purpose of sufferings in the Divine program if 
we pause to make a classification of them: 

(1) Sequential. Sufferings which result from our 
own acts of ignorance or willfulness. Sin always 
entails suffering, which may be immediate or remote, 
temporary or lasting. When God said to Adam, “In 
the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” 
He was merely enforcing a spiritual law, namely, 
“The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die.” Sin by 
its very nature is disintegrating. It corrodes, rots, 
destroys. This is true of its effect upon the mind, 
the soul, and the body. True both of the individual 
and of society. Suffering is the natural and in- 
evitable sequence of sin. 


+ 


eee 


THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING 139 


(2) Punitive. God does not always wait for sin 
to produce its natural harvest. Sometimes He in- 
flicts suffering directly. An acute crisis may com- 
pel Him thus to act. The destructive judgment of 
the Flood is an outstanding instance, or the plagues 
upon Egypt, or the extermination of the corrupt 
nations which dwelt in Canaan. God may also so 
deal with an individual, as when Herod being 
praised as God did not restrain the people. Acts 12: 
21-23. 

(3) Remedial. Sufferings sometimes are in- 
flicted upon God’s people in the form of Divine 
chastisements. How frequently was this the case of 
the Israelites. Whenever they turned back from 
following God He faithfully carried out His part of 
the program as revealed in the curses pronounced 
upon Israel for disobedience. Deut. 28: 15-68. If 
when we sin God did not recall us through special 
chastisements, He would fail in His part of the pro- 
gram. 

(4) Permissive. The case of Job is the conspicu- 
ous Old Testament instance. Job did not merit Di- 
vine chastisement, yet God permitted Satan to af- 
flict him within certain limits. Whatever may be 
the mystery involved here we have the facts. We 
also know that Job’s sufferings were turned into 
greater blessings for him. In the New Testament 
we have Paul, with his thorn in the flesh, “a mes- 
senger of Satan to buffet him.’ But the grace of 


140 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


God exceeded the pain, and no doubt one reason for 
the permissive sufferings of the saints is in order to 
make manifest the superabounding grace of God. 
When we think of these permissive sufferings we 
should include those caused by hereditary weaknesses 
and tendencies, environments, accidents, wars, and 
epidemic catastrophes. God could prevent these 
things, but for some wise end He often permits 
them. 

(5) Substituttonary. This form of suffering is the 
most mysterious of all. Why should one suffer for 
another? Yet this is the law of love. We see it il- 
lustrated among men and in the animal world, as 
when a parent gives its life in defense of its off- 
spring. It was elemental in the sacrificial offerings. 
The animal was substituted for the person. The su- 
preme expression of substitutionary suffering in the 
Old Testament is in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. 
It is in the form of prophecy: ““He was wounded for 
our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniqui- 
ties; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; 
and with his stripes we are healed... . Jehovah 
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” In New 
Testament times Caiaphas, the high priest, gave ex- 
pression to this truth when he gave official sanction 
to the death of Christ, saying that it was expedient 
that one man should die for the people, lest the 
whole nation perish. John 11:50. Our Lord 
looked upon His death-as ‘a ransom for many,” 


THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING 14] 


saying that His blood was “poured out for many 
unto remission of sins.” Matt. 20:28; 26:28. To 
this end He became a curse for us, and was made to 
Dersitis torus. Galskes 13's Cor, 5 721. 


MYSTERY AND NECESSITY OF THE CROSS 


The greatest mystery of suffering is that of 
Christ. Sometimes we are baffled by reason of hu- 
man suffering in its varied and awful forms, but 
usually we can discover the cause or find some good 
reason for it. But why should the God-man volun- 
tarily undergo the agonies of the Cross? Yet 
rightly understood this was the most vital and essen- 
tial thing in God’s program for man the sinner. 

Bearing in mind that the Divine program has for 
its goal the perfection of man—spirit, soul, and 
body, and also the perfect adjustment of men to 
God and to one another, we are ready to believe 
that so marvelous an event as the Crucifixion must 
have been an indispensable factor in the world-pro- 
gram. Some aspects of it must always remain a 
mystery, but we are assured that Calvary was no un- 
foreseen incident of the program, but its main fea- 
ture. Jesus was not the victim of cruel circum- 
stances or a mere martyr to high ideals, but was 
simply carrying out His part in the program that 
was conceived and planned before the foundation of 
the world. God’s program is far-reaching, and it 


142 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


“became him, for whom are all things, and by 
whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto 
glory, to make the author of their salvation per- + 
fect through sufferings.”’ Heb. 2: 10. 

The mystery of the Kenosis and of the humilia- 
tion of the Son of God still remains; yet through 
suffering and death He “tasted death for every ~x 
man” and is now “crowned with glory and honor.” 
Heb. 2:9. This was the all-important part of the 
program which only Christ could perform. Through 
humiliation He attained glorification, and through 
His suffering and death men may become sharers 
of His glory. Had Christ not died for us we could 
not have had. life. Now we may become partakers 
of His unending fullness of life. 


THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS 


Some modern minds stumble over the offense of 
the Cross. This is nothing new. It was so with 
the Greek intellectuals in Paul’s day. To them the 
Cross was foolishness. Its shame still endures. Its 
mystery still baffles the unbelieving. But there was 
no other way. The goal of the program could never 
have been reached if Calvary had been side-tracked. 
This suffering unto death of the Son of God was the )\ 
only way to show men the awfulness of their sins 
and to reveal the agonizing love of God in their i 


PRE IAAF RN He 


half. Except for the Cross of Christ we never 


THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING 143: 


could have conceived of the wonder and the persist- 
ence of God’s love for sinning men. Christ nailed 
to the Cross is the only power upon earth that stirs 
the depths of men’s hearts and draws men back to 
God. This is the Divine psychology of the Cross 
of Christ. But this was not all. The Cross of 
Christ was a substitutionary sacrifice for men: “He 
bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” 

In closing this consideration of the problem of 
suffering we revert again to human suffering. It 
may possess purifying power, but no saving power. 
There is no solution for suffering except as we turn 
to Christ. Suffering may help to soften us and to 
make us sympathetic, but the secret of being recon- 
ciled to_it is being reconciled to God through the 
Cross ‘of Jesus Christ. ~ Only through preaching the 
Cross. can God’s ‘program for men be carried for- 
ward to completion. No weak substitutes for \ 
God's way of saving men will accomplish the de- | } 
sired “end. 


Necesenn eal 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE (PRIMACY OF PRAYER IN TH 
PROGRAM 


Prayer is another paradox in the program. If 
God has definitely planned and purposed, and if the 
success of the program is assured, why pray? Since 
we are living in a world of law and order, what is 
the value of prayer anyway? Does prayer possess 
any power to change God’s plans? If not, then why 
pray? What a mystery is prayer! 


PRAYER VITAL TO THE PROGRAM 


Prayer is not a contradiction to the program of 
God, but is a vital part of that program. Believing 
prayer furthers the program, while faithlessness in 
prayer retards it. Such was the teaching of Christ 
when He said to His disciples, “Pray ye therefore 
the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers 
into his harvest.” In other words prayer is an es- 
sential part of the program. Prayer is not only not 
immaterial and needless, but is vitai to the further- 
ance of the program. God sends forth laborers in 
answer to prayer; and He sends forth the right kind 


of laborers. 
144 


PRIMACY OF PRAYER IN PROGRAM 145 


THE MAIN CHANNEL OF OPERATION 

Prayer is the main channel through which the 
program operates. It is operative because God has 
made it a part of His program. God works as men 
pray. His ceaseless working depends upon our 
ceaseless praying. When our Lord said that “men 
ought always to pray, and not to faint,’ and when 
Paul enjoined us “to pray without ceasing,” they 
spoke with a full knowledge of the place of prayer 
as the channel through which God carries out His 
purposes. 


PRAYER GOD'S METHOD 


Prayer is a Divine method. God employs other 
agents and agencies, but in His dealings with men 
God’s usual method is to employ men who have been 
specially chosen and fitted for His work. This does 
not mean that these chosen ones are always perfect 
instruments; but whatever the imperfections of the 
one who seeks to serve God, prayer plays an im- 
portant part in his equipment for service. Prayer 
brings him into contact with God, who is the only 
source of power for Divine service. Prayer-contact 
with God also purifies our hearts and rightly mo- 
tivates them, Prayer makes us receptive and fits us 
to receive what God wants to pass on to the needy 
souls of others. All men and women who have 


146 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


been greatly used in the carrying out of the world- 
program have been accustomed to spend much time 
in prayer. Purified and energized by prayer they 
have gone forth to do mighty things for God. 


PRAYER LIBERATES SUPERNATURAL FORCES 


Thus by the prayers of men God’s resources be- 
come operative in the realm of human history. God 
is infinite and His purposes for men are all-power- 
ful; yet God works through men only to the degree 
that their cooperation permits. Prayer is coopera- 
tion with God in the accomplishing of His purposes. 
Thus prayer enlarges God’s sphere of action. 
Through prayer Divine forces come into play which 
otherwise would remain dormant. Prayer sets free 
the play of supernatural forces. Thus prayer is 
“found to be not so much a means of bringing God , 
to see as we do, and to act as we desire, but rather 
the giving of opportunity to the Lord to carry out — 
His great desires and purposes.” 


PRAYER AND THE WILL OF GOD 


Through prayer we come to know the mind of 
God for us individually. In general the will of God 
for us is revealed in His Word; but through per- 
sonal communion with God we may know what God 
particularly wants us to do, what part each disciple 


i 


_\ passat 
g 


PRIMACY OF PRAYER IN PROGRAM 147 


is to perform in the program, The program of 
God often has been endangered by would-be helpers 
who dash hither and thither in ceaseless activity, 
without first having sought and discovered through 
prayer just what the Maker of the world-program 
would have them to do for its furtherance. 


IS PRAYER SCIENTIFIC? 


In this present scientific age, when the laws of 
nature, or laws of the physical realm, are so gen- 
erally known, prayer presents a special difficulty to 
some minds. If physical laws are invariable what 
good does it do to pray contrary to them? How 
harmonize prayer and science? Even if it were true 
that some prayers seem contrary to the nature of 
things, this would be no argument against the eff- 
cacy of prayer. Is God supreme over nature or is 
He subject to its laws? The laws of nature are 
simply God’s ways of working and God at any time 
may introduce new laws or work according to laws 
not yet discovered by man. 

Moreover there are laws governing the spiritual 


/ realm as well as the realm of nature. There are 
Yv ve fixed laws of prayer, just as much as there are fixed 
_ laws of gravitation, light, or electricity. Ina sense | 


all laws are spiritual, whatever the media through 
which they manifest themselves. _May not prayer be 


as much a cosmic force | as gravitation? It certainly / 


Nn accra 


a 


: 
K 


148 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


often has been proved to have most intimate rela- 


tion to the forces of nature. The control of Elijah 
over rain, or his calling down fire from heaven, 
show both the intimacy with and the supremacy of 
prayer over nature. Prayer is far more effective 
than mind or matter or all of the forces of nature. 


PRIMACY OF PRAYER 


The difficulty is not with prayer, but with our 
understanding of its scope and character. If all 
things are possible with God, then all things are pos- 
sible to the soul that binds itself to God by the in- 
visible bands of prayer. “Therefore prayer is one of 
the mightiest forces in the hand of God for the ac- 
complishment of His program for men. It kindles 
desire, consumes the dross, adds fuel to zeal, thrusts 
us forth to do the hard things and accomplish the 
impossible. 

The Church of to-day largely has lost the sense 
of the need of intercessory prayer. Its reflex value 
is appreciated by many individuals, but the vital 
place of prayer in the purposes and processes of God 
is little understood. The prevailing conception of 
prayer is that it is a valuable supplement to preach- 
ing and social service, whereas in the program of 
God it is primary. Lack of prayer chokes the main 
channel of Divine operation. 

Prayer is work as much as preaching and personal 


heey ener ete ts RIPON NATE 


PRIMACY OF PRAYER IN PROGRAM 149 


service and often far more effective. We may not 
fully understand the Divine philosophy or psychol- 
ogy of prayer, but in ways too mysterious for us to 
understand it permits God to work within the heart 
of him who prays and also in hearts and lives thou- 
sands of miles distant from him who prays. 

Personal service is necessary in the carrying out 
of God’s program; but spiritual forces are far more 
needful because our chief needs and our most power- 
ful enemies are spiritual needs and spiritual enemies. 
Our only hope for success and victory is in God. 
In the Divine program prayer is the appointed means 
for releasing the powers of God in behalf of the 
world’s needs. 

Prayer is the force that blinds us to the barriers 
of the natural and enables us to lay hold upon the 
supernatural. Nature limits us upon every hand, 
holding us to the working of its invariable laws, 
while prayer frees us from the bonds of the natural 
and lifts us into the realm of the love and the om- 
nipotence of God. Prayer transcends experience. 
It is so intended. God means through prayer to 
bring to pass the impossible. It is vital to His pro- 
gram. 


“PRAYING HYDE’’ 


A certain Theological Seminary in this country 
has graduated hundreds of men for the ministry, 


150 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


many of whom have been men of exceptional ability, 
have filled important pulpits, and have accomplished 
notable service in other fields of labor. John Hyde, 
a graduate of this institution and a classmate of the 
writer, probably has excelled them all in what he 
did for Christ’s Church. He did not excel as a 
student, though probably he was above the average. 
When he went to India he did not at first give prom- 
ise of being a remarkable missionary. Indeed he 
seemed to lack the enthusiasm and zeal a young mis- 
sionary ought to have. But a mighty change took 


place in Hyde when he learned that prayer was one ~ 


of God’s indispensable methods of working. He 
became known as “The Apostle of Prayer.” He 
himself was an answer to prayer, and in answer to 
his own prayers as a missionary God raised up 
scores of native workers. Through prayer George 
Muller built and sustained his great orphanages; but 
John Hyde was not raised up to do a work of 
Christian philanthropy. His far greater work was 


that of soul-saving. With him this became a pas-, > 


\. sion. Foodless days and Sleepless nights were spent 


Bhat prayer. Shaken with sobs, he would plead, He. 
“God, give me souls or I die! it iced even thou- 
sands, of souls were given to him in answer to 
prayer. At one time he prayed that he might win to 
Christ at least one soul a day; the next year it was 
two souls a day; later it was four a day. But what- 
ever the number his hunger for souls was never sat- 


a 4 


Z 


Cw 


PRIMACY OF PRAYER IN PROGRAM 151 


isfied. The more he prayed the greater became his 
passion for souls and greater were the numbers won. 
If only the Church would grasp the meaning of 
prayer in God’s program and be willing to pay the 
price of wakeful watchings, of yearning, pleading, 
and agonizing prayer for the myriads of lost souls as 
did “Praying Hyde,” then the Divine program for 
the present age would be speedily fulfilled. 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT IN 
THE PROGRAM 


Many modern scientists and philosophers would 
rule out the supernatural from all human history. 
Because the supernatural is not naturally discerned 
they would rule it out of consideration. In the 
words of one of them, “As the belief in miracles 
and in special answers to prayer and in the interfer- 
ence of the supernatural within the natural has grad- 
ually disappeared, almost the only pragmatic value 
of the supernatural left to religion is the belief in a 
personal future life.’ This same writer also says, 
“We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that higher 
criticism and the Darwinian theory have made tre- 
mendous inroads upon the faith of the people so far 
as this is based upon reasoning, and all indications 
make it seem likely that changes in popular religious 
thought which have already taken place are almost 
insignificant with those we shall see in the next few 
decades.” * 

The theory of evolution as employed by the Mod- 
ernists in their interpretation of history reduces the 

1James Bissill Pratt. Quoted from The Religion of Rel- 
gious Psychology (pages 29, 30), by Charles Calvert Ellis, 


Ph.D, 
152 


THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT 153 


latter to mere naturalism. As a philosophic method 
evolution as applied to history ruthlessly tramples 
upon facts and reconstructs Bible history to con- 
form to the mold of its own unsubstantiated hy- 
pothesis. It is significant, too, that destructive higher 
criticism is so closely linked with evolution, for in 
so far as they are employed in the interpretation of 
history they are one, and their destructive results 
are the same. 


HOPELESSNESS OF EVOLUTION 


PAS) a program for the perfection of humanity | 
“mere evolution is” the" ‘most hopeless _ that can be | 
a 4 
: imagined. Even its most ardent advocates do not 


} claim ¢ any immediate alluring prospect, for in view 


of its slow and disappointing achievements in the 
past the desired goal cannot be attained for ages and 
ages tocome. The words of Huxley are abundantly 
confirmative of this truth: “The theory of evolution 
encourages no millenarian anticipations. The cos- 
mic nature born within tis and to a large extent nec- 
essary to our existence, is the outcome of millions of 
years of severe training, and it would be folly to 
imagine that a few centuries will suffice to subdue its 
masterfulness to purely ethical ends. Ethical nature 
may count upon having to reckon with a tenacious 
and powerful enemy as long as the world lasts.” 
Thus in view of man’s much acclaimed historical 
and evolutionary development the prospect is dis- 


154 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


} heartening. Left solely to his own innate traits and 
| natural instincts. man has not yet demonstrated his 
ability | for ‘sel f- improvement ; for alongside his high- 
} est aspirations isa drag that ceaselessly pulls him 
down. Its ugly name is Sin, a thing that many 
Modernists would minimize or ignore. Their only 
remedy for sin is reform through self-effort and im- 
proved environment, which ends quite as often in 
failure as in success, God's remedy for sin is not 
) reform but regeneration;, _and this is supernatural. 
) And only as God ‘stipernaturally intervenes in the 
( _affairs. of men can men. iWIse Dy, His power to the 
| heights God has planned for them. All of the real 
and lasting achievements of men in the moral sphere, 
whether in the limited compass of individual ex- 
perience or in the greater historical events and on- 
ward movements of mankind, have been the result 
of the direct intervention of God plus the continu- 
ous exercise of His mighty ‘uplift. The program of 
perfection requires both an immanent God whose 
power is ceaselessly active in the affairs of men, and 
also a transcendent God who will intervene in hu- 
man affaifS whenever they become hopeless and es- 
tablish a new and better order of things. 


MIRACLES NOT INCREDIBLE 


Various materials, such as steel, wood, glass, 
leather, could not of themselves come together into 


_ a — 


THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT 155 


the form of an automobile. The automobile is a 
modern human miracle by which man has directed 
and forced the laws of nature to do his bidding. 
The aeroplane and the wireless phonograph are even 
greater wonders in which man has both manipu- 
lated and disturbed the ordinary processes of nature. 
Is it then incredible that God, who implanted all 
the forces in nature, and who more thoroughly 
understands them than men, should be able to ma- 
nipulate them at will, or even to introduce new 
forces if necessary? Has God less liberty than man 
in the execution of His all-embracing purposes? Is 
it incredible to suppose that the natural processes 
known to men are not God’s sole method of work- 
ing? 


REASONABLENESS OF MIRACLES 


Miracles need not be a stumbling-block if rightly 
understood. They simply reveal in an unusual way 
the presence of God in nature and in history. They 


_ do not contravene the laws of nature, but only tem- 


phate exceed them. A miracle is “not a lawless 
event,” but belongs to the realm of God’s operations 
both in the physical and the spiritual worlds. Mira- 
cles are 2 indispensable to God’s program. Because of 


\ the. insufficiency of n man it_ igs ‘absolutely necessary 


\ 
‘ 


/ that God should sc sometimes work in wondrous ways. 


oo es 
Science has done much in the discovery and manipu- 


156 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


lation of the laws of nature, or God’s known ways 
of working; but when science would deify nature 
and bring us into bondage to its laws it is time that 
a rational belief in miracles should unfetter our 
minds ‘and give us the daring of faith that lays hold 
upon the ‘boundless resources of an almighty God. 
Dwellers in the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and 
Capernaum were rebuked and doomed because they 
did not give due weight to the miracles Christ had 
performed in them. Matt. 11: 20-24. Yet it is be- 
coming quite the popular thing in our day for near- 
scholars and those who ape them to take the same 
attitude towards the “mighty works’ of Christ as 
did the degenerate scoffers of that age. 


THE NECESSITY OF MIRACLES 


Not only are miracles reasonable, they are a ne- 
cessity. They are one of God’s ways of working. 
Even Darwin, in his scheme of evolution, found it 
necessary to start with a miracle when seeking to ex- 
plain the origin of life. But if one miracle was nec- 
essary, why exclude others? The consistent evolu- 
tionist rules out this possibility because his scheme 
of naturalism is opposed to miracles, although there 
is no really scientific ground for eliminating them. 
In fact Darwin’s explanation of the cause of the 
different forms of life demanded from seven to ten 


Cremeans) epaniin 


- 
i 


; 
| 
7 

J 


ENOTES 


i 
’ 


THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT 157 


separate miracles.» Not only was a miracle needed 
to create the first form, or forms, of life, but only 
the fact of additional miracles can adequately ac- 
count for the varied instincts and sensations of the 
animal kingdom, and especially for the sentient and 
spiritual life of man. 

Limiting our consideration to the Divine program 
for man, the necessity for the occasional miraculous 
intervention of God is abundantly evident. The 
down-pull of sin has been so preponderant that it 
has been absolutely necessary for God to supernatu- 
rally intervene in human history in order to pre- 
serve His moral government, and to prevent His 
all-wise and loving plans for the race from miscarry- 
ing. Particularly we may refer to the manner of 
Christ’s coming into the world, His resurrection, 
His ascension, and the miraculous events of the Day 
of Pentecost. 


MIRACLE PERIODS 


Miracles are not God’s ordinary method, but ex- 
traordinary. They have occurred in great numbers 
at only two epochal crises in the past. The first was 
in connection with the introduction of the Age of 
Law under Moses, and the second in connection with 
the introduction of the Age of Grace under Jesus 


1 Theistic Evolution, page 19, Fairhurst. 


158 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


Christ. Each of these extraordinary revelations of 
God required special and unusual attestations of His 
power in order to arrest attention and give Divine 
endorsement to His messengers and their message. 
Ought we not naturally to expect supernatural reve- 
lations to be accompanied by supernatural manifesta- 
tions of the Divine power and presence? Miracles 
are a necessary part of the Divine plans to advance 
God’s program. God is always at work in the world, 
but special crises call for special manifestations of 
His power. 


THE SUPERNATURAL NOT UNCOMMON 


The very plan of God to establish His kingdom , 


\ 


upon the earth is presumptive evidence in favor | 


of the supernatural. The phrase, “Kingdom of 
heaven,’’ of itself implies a supernatural order upon 
earth at the present time. Not an order due to ordi- 
nary or natural progression as the result of human 
endeavor and achievement, but an order established 
and maintained by the supernatural working of God. 
Just as the human origin of Christ was supernatural, 
as miracle was a prominent element in His ministry, 
as His resurrection and ascension were wholly su- 
pernatural, likewise the new life begun in the Chris- 
tian is supernatural, is evidenced by supernatural 
works, and finally a supernatural resurrection and 
translation will mark its consummation. 


iia 


we 


THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT 159 


THE CHURCH AND THE SUPERNATURAL 


Thus the Church of Christ is not natural, but 
supernatural. Its place and work in the program 
are supernatural, Failure marks its course when- 
ever the Church descends to live upon the plane of 
the natural. Only when it takes its rightful position 
and depends upon supernatural powers to work 
within it and through it has it ever been truly the 
representative of God or measurably forwarded His 
program. “To work miracles and to make confident 
drafts upon the supernatural is our Christian duty 


and privilege.’ If the Church ceases to believe in . 


miracles it is a defeated Church. Dependence upon 
natural resources only, such as money and organiza- 
tion, mean certain failure; while utter dependence 
upon the unlimited resources of the supernatural 
means joyous success. 

Christ said to His disciples, ‘““But ye shall receive 
power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you”; 
and again, ‘‘Verily, verily I say unto you, He that 
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; 
and greater works than these shall he do.” Such lan- 
guage clearly reveals that He certainly had in mind 
the unusual and the miraculous. While doubtless 
the “greater works” were to be of a spiritual nature, 
wrought through the coming and the indwelling of 
the Holy Spirit, yet works of a physical nature were 
not excluded. Neither have these latter ever wholly 


~ oe 


160 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


ceased, but they are not so great nor so important 
as the spiritual miracles, such as the re-creation of 
the souls of men and the complete transformation 
of their lives. Yet where necessity has arisen God 
has ever shown himself ready to give visible attes- 
tations to the power of the Gospel. The prevailing 
mistake has been that our unbelief has restricted the 
miracle power of God. The powerlessness of the 


i Church to-day is its. Jost. ‘sense of its “supernatural 
character and the failure to use the supernatural 


powers which God has placed at her disposal. _Only 


eee 


\ Apostolic che 


COMING AGE OF THE SUPERNATURAL 


But the age of continuous miracle will not prevail 
upon the earth prior to the complete establishment 
of the Kingdom. The universal Kingdom of the 
Son of Man is to follow the present limited sway 
of the Kingdom of Heaven. The very establish- 
ment of that kingdom will be supernatural. Dan. 
2:44, 45. Degenerate and apostate world-powers 
will be suddenly overthrown by Divine judgment 
upon them. When that part of God’s program is 
completed the earth will be truly Paradise. The 
omnipotence of God will then be unrestrained. A’ 
single authority will then dominate all spheres of 


-eterte 


od cam 


\ 
j 


j bya a return to the faith of the Apostolic Church will 


THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT 161 


being. Unlike all the preceding attempts at world- 
empire a new principle will prevail and a new power 
will operate unceasingly for the welfare of man. 
Kingship and Kingdom will then no longer be mere 
figures or predictions, but actuality and fulfilment. 
An entirely new order of things will supersede the 
present order. 

A perfected order of society will not result from 
any of the plans, devices, or achievements of men. 
Mankind does not possess the requisite power that is. 
necessary to re-create the present social, industrial, 
and political relationships of men. These unholy 
conditions are merely surface indications of deeper 
needs, needs that can be met only by the supernat- 
ural exhibition of the power of God. That which 
the earth was meant to be, that divinely glorious and 
perfected arena for the display of supreme love for 
God and an equal love of men for men, can and will 
be produced by God himself, In that age the su- 
pernatural will be so common as to be the natural. 
One will, and that the will of God, shall then hold 
complete and loving and universal sway. In that 
coming age of glory will be fully answered the daily 
prayer of the present citizens of the Kingdom, “Thy 
will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 
CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 


Reference already has been made to the ceaseless 
activity of God in the carrying out of His program. 
The various methods have been indicated, and the 
agents and agencies enumerated. In addition to the 
continuous working of God from behind the scenes, 
as it were, occasions have arisen and will yet arise 
which demand His personal and open intervention 
in order to carry His program to completion. 

Moreover, certain phases of Christ’s particular 
part in the program demand special attention lest 
we forget that He is the most interested Person, that 
His is by far the most important part, and that the 
program itself would fail if His work were to be 
omitted. To leave out Christ from the world-pro- 
gram would be far more serious than to omit Wash- 
ington or Lincoln from American history. 


THE MAKER OF THE AGES 


The opening verses of the Epistle to the Hebrews 
are an inspired résumé of the work of the Son of 
God. Among other things it declares that the 


Father through the Son “made the worlds.’”’ While 
162 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 163 


true, as John tells us, that the Son took the leading 
part in creation, the word here used for “‘worlds”’ is 
a tume word, meaning “ages.” The cosmic ages may 
be included, but also the various successive ages of 
God’s dealings with man in the gradual unfolding 
of His program. Christ’s disciples made specific 
use of the term in this sense when they inquired of 
Him concerning the time of His coming and of 
“the consummation of the age.” Matt. 24: 3, (mar- 
gin). oH 

On account of the comprehensive and extended 
program of Christ in accomplishing man’s complete 
redemption, which includes the planning and the 
supervision of the various ages of human history, 
we should reasonably expect in every time of acute 
crisis or dire need that Christ would intervene in 
behalf of His people. This is just what sacred his- 
tory reveals, and His controlling hand will bring the 
program to a victorious conclusion. 


CHRIST THE GREATEST THEME OF PROPHECY 


Beginning with the very first prophecy of God to 
fallen man He foretold the time when “the seed of 
the woman” would bruise the Serpent’s head. All 
history is a record of the conflict between good and 
evil, between Christ and Satan. Satan and his 
kingdom of darkness could have been overthrown 
long ago, but in the wisdom of God Satan has been 


164 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


permitted to continue to tempt, deceive, and seduce 
men. This sad condition cannot go on forever. 
When Christ caught a vision of His victorious Cross 
He said, ‘‘Now shall the prince of this world be 
cast out.” John 12:31. Thus by anticipation He 
foresaw the coming defeat of Satan, whose head He 
will yet bruise. 

Two great lines of prophecy concerning Christ 
run throughout the Old Testament. One refers to 
His kingship, the other to His saviourhood. The 
kingly prophecies predominate, though the others are 
not a minor feature. In song and in prophecy the 
portrait of Christ is drawn and the main features of 
His work are clearly revealed. While many lesser 
matters fall within the range of predictive prophecy, 
the overshading Person is the majestic figure of the 
Coming One who will “turn and overturn” until 
His own Kingdom of righteousness and peace shall 
fill the whole earth. 


REJECTED AS KING 


Twice has Christ been rejected as the King of 
Israel. You will recall how Jehovah (Christ) * de- 
livered Israel out of Egypt and brought the people 
to Mt. Sinai, and said, “Ye shall be mine own pos- 
session. . . . And ye shall be unto me a kingdom.” 
Invisibly, but really, God was to reign over them. 


1 See His Glory, by the Author, Chapter II. 


2 


-_ 


: 


ie ne A 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 165 


Laws were laid down for their guidance and sol- 
emnly accepted by the Chosen Nation: “All that Je- 
hovah hath spoken we will do.” They were sepa- 
rated unto Him and He was pledged to do for them. 
When mindful and obedient they were marvelously 
blessed; but when forgetful and disobedient they 
were severely chastised. Such was their history 
during the period of the Judges, those men who 
were divinely raised up to be the representatives of 
the unseen King, and such has been their history 
down to the present moment. 

Contact and intimacy with heathen neighbors 
caused the Israelites again and again to apostatize. 
Finally they became so emboldened in their depar- 
ture from God that they came to Samuel, the priest- 
judge, and demanded a visible king: “Make us a 
king to judge us like all the nations.”” Samuel was 
displeased, but even he seemed not to know the real 
import of this demand. Then Jehovah said to Sam- 
uel: “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all 
that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected 
thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not 
be king over them.” Even though warned of the 
character and the meaning of human kingship the 
people pressed their demand. Although forewarned 
that in the day of their extremity Jehovah would not 
answer them, in proud rebellion they replied, “Nay, 
but we will have a king over us, that we also may be 


_ like all the nations.” Thus was Jehovah formally 


166 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


rejected as King of Israel; and although He never | 


gave up the nation He was prevented from doing 
for them what no human king could do. 


THE SECOND REJECTION 


The second rejection of Christ as Israel’s King 
occurred when He became the Son of David. As 
such He was born King of the Jews (Matt. 2:2) in 
fulfilment of many prophecies. King Herod mur- 
derously sought to take his life. His forerunner, 
John the Baptist, said of Him, “After me cometh a 
man who is become before me: for he was before 
me.’ This One was prophesied to become “Ruler in 
Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from 
everlasting.” Mic. 5:2. The One who “inhabiteth 
eternity” was born King of the Jews. 

Upon the occasion of the so-called “triumphal en- 
try’ of Jesus into Jerusalem He accepted Kingly 
acclamations and Messianic honors. John 12: 13- 
15. When upon trial before Pilate and asked point- 
blank, “Art thou the King of the Jews?” He replied, 
“Thou sayest.”” Luke 23:3. According to John’s 
account Jesus added, “But now my kingdom is not 
from hence.” This explanation often is overlooked. 
Concerning His kingship, Christ said, “To this end 
I have been born, and to this end I have come into 
the world.” That Jesus was crucified instead of 
crowned in no sense altered His kingship. 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 167 


Jesus offered Himself to the Jewish nation as its 
long expected Messiah, but was rejected. John’s 
account is intensely dramatic. Pilate, conscience- 
stricken, sought in every way to release Jesus, but 
the Jews created a counter-fear in Pilate’s heart 
when they cried out, “If thou release this man, thou 
art not Czesar’s friend: every one who maketh him- 
self a king speaketh against Cesar.” Both Pilate 

_ and the Jews understood that Jesus claimed to be 
King. 

With reluctance and in desperation, seeking to 
shift the blame of crime to the accusers of Jesus, 
Pilate then said, “Behold, your | Se 

But the mad howling 1g increased : “Away with him, 
away with him, crucify him!” 

“Shall I crucify_your King?” asks the despicable 
judge, still seeking to shift the blame of crime. But 
the chief priests, envious beyond all precautions and 
impious beyond compute, in mock_patriotism ex- 
claimed, “We have no king but Ceesar.”’ 

Having previous knowledge of the repeated plot- 
tings of the Jewish leaders to kill Him, and also 
having foreknowledge of what was to befall Him, 
Jesus already had lamented over the coming fate of 

we Jerusalem. Luke 19: 41-44. Already He had in- 
formed His disciples that the Jews would be led 
away captive into all the nations, and that Jerusalem 
would be trodden down “until the times of the Gen- 
* tiles be fulfilled.” Luke 21 : 20-24. 





168 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


KINGLY CLAIMS NOT ABANDONED 


All the world, though unaware, has vital interests 
wrapped up in the end of the “times of the Gen- 
tiles.’ At that time world-rulership will revert to 
the nation divinely chosen for that purpose. Jerusa- 
lem will then cease to be trodden down by the Gen- 
tiles and the kingship of Jesus will be openly mani- 
fested; for the Son of Man is yet to be seen “sitting 
at the right hand of power, and coming on_ the 
clouds of heaven.” Matt. 26: 64. ; 

The angel Gabriel did not déceive Mary when he 
promised that the Most High would give her Son 
the throne of His father David, and that He would 
rule over the house of Jacob. Luke 1:32, 33. Nor 
was Jesus mistaken when He promised His disciples, 
“Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed 
me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall 
sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon 
twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”’ 
. Matt, 19: 28. 

Since these conditions never yet have prevailed 
they still pertain to the future. Christ is King and 


He will yet. ‘establish ‘His kingdom upon the earth. 


This is vital to the success of God’s world- -program. 
All other governmental schemes have failed. Only 
the Kingdom of the Son of Man will accomplish for for 
man what God has purposed. This is revealed in 
song, in prophecy, and in promise. The coming of 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM _ 169 


the Kingdom is the thing most to be desired, is the 
theme of our prayers, and the object of our effort. 
God will establish it in His own time. 


THE PROPHET LIKE UNTO MOSES 


When the children of Israel arrived upon the 
east side of the Jordan and Moses was delivering his 
farewell addresses, he comforted the people with the 
promise of God that He would raise up a prophet 


,_ like unto Moses: “I will raise them up a prophet 


from among..their brethren, like unto thee; and I 
will put my words into his mouth, and he shall speak 
unto them all that I have commanded him. And it 
shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken 
unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I 
will require it of him.” Deut. 18: 18, 19. 

God spoke unto Moses and Moses gave His words 
to the people. Afterwards he wrote them, so that 
future generations might benefit by them. A’nd God 
held the people accountable to Him whenever they 
would not hearken to His words. Even to this very. 
day the nation is under God’s displeasure ; and judg- 
ment because they refused to obey God’s words, 

That was a marvelous revelation which came to 
the world upon Mt. Sinai, but a still more wondrous 
one was given to the world when God spoke through 
His son. Heb. 1:1. Christ said that His words 
were the words of Him that sent Him, and that He 


CRE cing 


170 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


did not speak from himself. Among other things 
He said: “For all things that I heard from my 
Father I have made known unto you.” Again: 
“For the words which thou gavest me I have given 
them; and they received them, and know of a truth 
that I came forth from thee.”’ These words, God’s 
words, spoken by the Prophet like unto Moses, are 
“words of eternal life” to all who receive them. 

God also said that if any man would not hearken 
to the words of Christ, that he “would require it of 
him.” That is, He would hold him responsible and 
accountable to Him. This was also Christ’s own es- 
timate of His words: “He that rejecteth me, and re- 
ceiveth not my sayings, “hath one that judgeth | him: 
the word that I spake, the same shall judge I him ii in 
the last day.” John 12: 48. 

“The | Prophet like unto Moses was Christ, and one 
who gave even a fuller and more blessed revelation 
than came upon Mt. Sinai. Both revelations were 
God-given. Both revealed much concerning God’s 
program for man. Both pointed the way to bless- 
ing, and also warned_men of coming judgment 
should they refuse to hearken to God’s words. 





A PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK 


In the Epistle to the Hebrews Christ is called a 
“high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” 
This comparison directs our attention first of all to 


_ o 


ba 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 171 


the eternity of the priesthood of Christ, as suggested 
by the language, “having neither beginning of days 
nor end of life.” Heb. 7:3. Jesus Christ is our 
High Priest “forever.” This characteristic imparts 
reassurance when we think of His world-program, 
for we have learned that His program covers cen- 
turies of history, many of which are past; but the 
program still reaches far into the future. Shall the 
benefits of the Sacrifice that has been “offered once 
for all” for the sins of the world be experienced 
only in the present? What guarantee have we that 
those benefits will be perpetuated? We have the an- 
swer in the fact of the eternity of our High pi 
who “ever liveth to make intercession for us,” He 
is at this moment ‘interceding i in behalf of those who 
are His present representatives and ambassadors in 
the world for the furtherance of His program. 
Christ’s priestly intercession in heaven will continue 
until His priestly work for those upon the earth shall 
have accomplished its full purpose. 


THE CONQUEROR OF SIN 


The greatest hindrance to the completion of God’s 
program is sin. At the beginning of human history 
sin imperiled tI the program and ever has hindered it. 
The essence of sin is lawlessness. It flaunts its own 
desire and intent in the face of God and disregards 
the welfare of others. Human government is the 


172 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


history of the attempt to control or to suppress sin. 
All the sorrows and the griefs of mankind are trace- 
able | to si sin, “God must deal firmly, yet lovingly, with 
this greatest of all problems, because the program 

calls for its banishment from society and its eradica- 
tion from the human heart. The very desire to sin 
must be taken completely away. ‘This is a task too 
great for man. The wreckage that has strewn all 
the paths of history is sufficient proof that man is 
utterly incapable of dealing with sin. This is Christ’s 
chief part in the world-program. Only He can ef- 
fectually put away sin, and this He has done for 
those who accept Him by the sacrifice of himself. 
He also will deal with rebellious sinners, but in a 
different way. 


AER ERAS Pe ran halleionipe net 


Unlike Melchizedek or any Aaronic priest, Christ 
is both priest and sacrifice. Other priests offered 
various animal sacrifices, which in themselves pos- 
sessed no merit. They were merely shadows of 
good things to come. They could never take away 
sins, and they must be oft repeated. Not so with 
the sacrifice offered by our High Priest. His body 
was a Divinely prepared sacrifice (Heb. 10:5) 
‘which Christ obediently offered (vs. 8, 9) and by 
which we have been sanctified and perfected forever 
(vs. 10,14). Thus the program for the elimination 


| 


| 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 173 


of sin will be completely accomplished for us by 
Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, who put away 
sin by the voluntary sacrifice of himself, Some 
good people to-day are more “suipersensitive to the 
thought of the blood atonement than they are sensi- 
tive to the < awfulness of sin. ‘With God this is just 


the reverse. fhm vy 


THE UNIVERSAL HIGH PRIEST 


Jesus Christ was not simply a Jewish high priest, 
or a high priest only for the Jews. Melchizedek was 
outside of the Jewish race. His priesthood per- 
tained to a people whom Abraham found already 
in Canaan. Furthermore, he was known as “priest 
of God Most High,” Supreme Ruler of the universe. 
This phase of the priesthood of Melchizedek is pe- 
culiarly appropriate to Christ. His priestly work 
upon the Cross was the supreme expression and 
proof of God’s love for the entire world. As John 
said, “He is the propitiation for our sins; and not 
for ours only, but also for the whole world.” 

It is because of the universality of Christ’s priest- 
hood that the representatives of the Cross are under 
present compulsion to make a world-wide proclama- 
tion of salvation. Because the needs of all men are 
the same God has made the same provision for all 
men. For men of every tribe and nation Christ is 
God’s acceptable High Priest, the only Mediator be- 


174 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


tween God and men and by whom we must be saved. 

Aiter making the acceptable and effectual sacri- 
fice for sin Christ “entered not into a holy place 
made with hands,” but “into heaven itself, now to 
appear in the presence of God for us.” There He 
represents us, intercedes for us, and pleads our case, 
as it were. If our sins are covered by His precious 
blood, we may “rest. ‘assured ‘that all 1S well for _us 
_now and for all time to come. This present ‘media- 
“torship of Christ is frequently forgotten by most 
Christians, or they may even be entirely ignorant 
of the fact. But there Christ is, at the right hand 
of God, our sympathetic High Priest, who knows 
us, understands our problems, and is ever ready to 
care for us as we try to carry out our part of the 
program on the earth. 


CHRIST A KING-PRIEST 


In connection with the priestly work of Christ in 
the provision He has made for sin, the writer of 
Hebrews passes at once to mention_two dread and 
appointed events_in the lives of all men, namely, 
death and judgment. Heb. 9:27. Is it because he 
~ wishes us more truly to appreciate and evaluate the 
death of Christ? Is it to lift a warning voice for 
those who think of rejecting the atoning work of the 
world’s High Priest? Or is it for the purpose of 
reminding us (v. 28) that the crucified Christ, who 


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CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 175 


now appears in the presence of God for us, “shall 
appear the second time, apart from sin, to them that 
wait for him’? Because this Second Appearing 
will, in part, be for the purpose of executing judg- 
ment upon the ungodly. 

This Return of our High Priest reminds us of an- 
other characteristic of Melchizedek. He not only 
was a priest, but alsoa king. Gen. 14:18. Unlike 
any of the Aaronic priesthood Melchizedek exer- 
cised regal power. He was a.king-priest. And our 
Lord is like him. The One Hundred and Tenth 
Psalm brings out some of the kingly aspects of 
Christ, the king-priest, such as Melchizedek was: 


Jehovah s saith unto my lord, 


Sit.thou at my. right hand, 


Me Until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 


Jehovah will send forth the rod of thy strength out of 
Zion: 

Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. 

Thy people offer themselves willingly 

In the day of thy power, in holy array: 

Out of the womb of the morning 

Thou hast the dew of thy youth. 

Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent: 

Thou art a priest. for ever 


After the order of Melchizedek. 


The Lord at thy right hand 

Will strike through kings in the day of his wrath. 
He will judge among the nations, 

__He will fill the places with dead bodies; 

~ He will strike through the head | in many countries. 


RR eg ET NPT ATT EIT 


176 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


This psalm reveals certainly kingly qualities of 
our King-Priest. First of all He will maintain His 
sovereignty. He is not at present fully exercising 
His regal power, but the good time is coming when 
He will “rule in the midst of his enemies” and “will 
strike through kings in the day of his wrath.” At 
that time He “will judge among the nations.” In 
this and similar language we learn that the world’s 
King-Priest will exercise supreme and just and per- 
sonal rulership over all the earth. 


THE SON OF DAVID 


Melchizedek was king of Salem. In the light of 
Psalm 76: 2 certain traditional cities of Salem must 
be abandoned in favor of Jerusalem: “In Salem 
also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in 
Zion.” This language can apply only to the God of 
Jacob (v. 6). As in Psalm 110, so in this Psalm 
also we have a picture of judgment; but here it is 
in order to save all the meek of the earth (v. 8). 

Salem literally designates the place of Christ’s 
earthly throne. As legal heir to David’s throne 
Christ is one day to reign over all the earth from 
Jerusalem. The prophecies are so many and so spe- 


ree 


cific that to deny this fact is to discredit the Bible | 


itself. Having already devoted space to this sub- ; 


ject we need not enlarge upon it here. Just the na- 
ture of that reign we do not need to know, but let 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM § 177 


not any apparent difficulties blind us to the plain 
teachings of God’s Word. Since Christ appeared to: 
His disciples after His resurrection during a space. 
of forty days, it is not incredible that He will be 
seen upon earth again. Christ is yet to sit upon the 
throne of His father David. Isa. 9:7. Whatever 
else this may mean, it means that He is to reign 
from Jerusalem, for that was the seat of David's 
kingdom, and it will again be known, as of old, as. 
“The City of the Great King.” 


VICTORY OVER ALL ENEMIES 


Prior to the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David, 
which is to be the work of Christ when He returns. 
(Acts 15: 16), certain acts of judgment must be per- 
formed. We dislike to mention them, but they will 
be essential to the forwarding of the world-program. 

When Christ was upon earth He patiently endured. 
all the indignities evil men could heap upon Him. 
He paid to the full the penalty of man’s sin, finally 
submitting to be “led as a lamb to the slaughter.” 

The tables are to be turned. Christ’s enemies are: 
to be made His footstool. At the present time “an- 
gels and authorities and powers” have been made: 
subject unto Him, but the earth is still in rebellion. 
This is permitted until the Gospel of the Kingdom 
has been proclaimed in all the world; then the end: 
will come. Matt. 24:14. The King will return. 


178 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


David did not have an easy time in establishing 
his kingdom, but the day finally came after much 
warring and bloodshed when God gave him rest 
from all his enemies. II Sam. 7:11. As already 
seen that day is still to come for Christ; not grad- 
ually, as in the case of David, but speedily at the 
end. When God’s hour strikes for the establish- § 
ment of His kingdom He will make short work of , 
it. a 

When Christ drew nigh to Jerusalem in order to 
die, the disciples supposed that the kingdom of God 
was immediately to appear. Luke 19:11. Then 
Christ told them the parable of the nobleman who 
took his journey into a far country to receive a 
kingdom and to return. In this parable the noble- 
man represents Christ. But there are citizens, His 
own countrymen, who hate Him, and say, “We will 
not that this man reign over us.” Very well. They 
have made their choice. What will happen to them 
when Christ returns as King? This is what He will 
say: “But these mine enemies, that would not that 
I should reign over them, bring hither, and siay 
them before me.” 

The attitude of Christ’s enemies is vividly por- 
trayed in the Second Psalm: 


“The kings of the earth set themselves, 
And the rulers take counsel together, 
Against Jehovah and against his anointed, saying, 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 179 


Let us break their bands asunder, 
And cast away their cords from us.” 


“Then will he speak unto them in his wrath, 
And vex them in his sore displeasure: 

Yet have I set my King 

Upon my holy hill of Zion.” 


The Psalm closes with a loving appeal to the 
kings and judges of the earth: 


“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the 
way, 

For his wrath will soon be kindled. 

Blessed are all they that take refuge in him.” 


David was a man of war and did what fighting 
that was necessary to firmly establish his kingdom. 
His disturbed reign was followed by the peaceful 
reign of Solomon. Likewise, after Christ subdues. 
all of His enemies He will rule in peace and equity 
over all the nations of the earth. That reign is 
fully described in the Psalms and the Prophets. It 
is the earthly goal towards which the Divine pro- 
gram is swiftly moving. 


We have seen how Christ’s part in the program 
is the all-important part. A’s Maker of the ages He 
has planned the world-program, sees the end from 
the beginning, and is pledged to its victorious con- 
summation. 


180 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


As the rejected King He is now seated at the 
right hand of the throne of God awaiting the day 
when He shall take the reins of government upon 
the earth, overthrow evil in every form, and estab- 
lish His universal kingdom of righteousness and 
peace. 

As the central theme of prophecy, and also the 
One who brings events to pass in their own good 
time, we have seen how Christ has set His seal upon 
the prophecies concerning himself by having al- 
ready fulfilled so many of them in the past and in 
the present, which are a sure guarantee that “the 
Scripture cannot be broken.” Therefore we have 
every assurance that the unfulfilled portions of the 
program concerning Him and His work will cer- 
tainly come to pass. 

As our Great High Priest, who has gone into the 
heavens for us, we owe everything to Him, because 
He has made a perfect and acceptable atonement 
for our sins; because at the present time He makes 
continual intercession for us; and because He is to 
come again in glory as our King-Priest and reign 
over the earth from Jerusalem. Christ is the Son 
of David, and thus heir to his throne. He also is 
Son of Abraham, the Promised Seed in whom all 
the families and nations of the earth are to be 
‘blessed. 

The completion of Christ’s part in the program 
for man may tarry, but cannot fail. God has the 


CHRIST’S PART IN THE PROGRAM 181 


wisdom, the power, and the agencies to bring it to 
successful completion. By faithful cooperation man 
may help forward the Divine program, but the fail- 
ure of man cannot frustrate it. The program is of 
God and He will see to its success. God is sensitive 
to man’s loving cooperation and is pledged to amply 
reward; but He also will require it of man, if any 
should fail to hearken unto His words. 

At the present hour world-conditions are far from 
being ideal, and also far from God’s revealed pur- 
poses. Mingled feelings of uncertainty and dread 
are gripping the souls of many who are serious- 
minded and who sense the situation. We have a 


word of cheer for all such. However dark the hour 


there is no room for pessimism. Become acquainted 
with God’s program, know that all adverse condi- 
’ tions have been foreseen by Him, have been pro- 
) vided for, and that more glorious days are just on 
ahead. Then gird up the loins of your mind and in 
unwavering faith give yourself to making Christ 
known to all men and thus help prepare the way for 
the coming of the Kingdom. Remember this: 
Christ is the beginning and the end of the world- 
program. His own words are, “I am the Alpha and 
the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the 


Lord God, which is and which was and which is to 


come, the Almighty.” 


“~ 


CHAPTER XIX 


THE PROGRAM AS A VINDICATION 
OF GOD 


In the minds of some readers doubts may still 
linger as to whether the Divine program as unfolded 
is the best possible. Why has it not accomplished 
more? Why so many seeming failures? A\s to the 
latter question we may reply that the failures are 
indeed only ‘“‘seeming.’”’ Out of each apparent fail- 
ure elements have emerged that have added to the 
strength of the program and also contributed to its 
final success. A glance over the great epochs of 
sacred history will convince one of this. For ex- 
ample, the present Era of Grace far surpasses any 
that preceded it and has accomplished far more for 
the present benefit and the future blessing of man- 
kind. 

Let it be clearly understood that first of all the 
world-program itself must be worthy of the good- 
ness and majesty of God. Failure here is irrepara- 
ble. The program must reflect both God’s charac- 
ter and almightiness. The transformation of exist- 
ing deplorable conditions must be so complete and 


so ideal that the love, perfection, and power of God 
182 


PROGRAM AS A VINDICATION OF GOD 183 


can never again be justly questioned. The com- 
pleted program must find the earth so metamor- 
phosed that all evil, all sorrow, all death, and all 
sin must be completely and forever abolished. This 
goal is far from being reached, but it must be at- 
tained before God and His program can be com- 
pletely vindicated. 


CHARACTER OF THE HUMAN AGENTS 


If we think that the program ought to have ac- 
complished more than it has, consider that the chief 
agents selected to carry out His program have been 
mostly mere men. _The € program is is not at fault, but 

the agents. Nor was was it. possible to "choose. ‘different 


ot Ro 


and more efficient z agents. The program is in behalf 
of men, and in most ways men can be helped only 
by men. God. cannot do everything f for_ man, be- 
cause his complete. recovery from sin and its awful 
effects must depend to a considerable extent upon 
man himself. God has made perfect provision for sin, 
whether individual or collective, national or racial, 
but the complete paOby over it depends in no small 
measure upon man’s response to God and upon the 
zeal with which man obeys God and cooperates » with 
_ Himin the carrying ¢ out of ‘His 1 program. Hence in 
~~no small degree the success of the program for man 
depends upon man himself. God is doing the best 
He can with such agents as He has. 


ey aii val! 


—— 2 
~~  F 


184 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


JUDGED BY WHAT IT HAS ACCOMPLISHED 


There are several methods by which to judge a 
program before we pronounce it a failure. The 
first is by what it already has accomplished; and 
when we consider what the Divine program has ac- 
complished we must take into consideration the 
problems to be solved and the obstacles to be over- 
come. Apart from Judaism consider only the great 
things accomplished by Christianity. In contrast 
with the almost universal prevalence of immorality, 
vice, slavery, the degradation of woman, oppression 
of the poor and the weak, which things character- 
ized the highest civilization in the days when Christ 
was born, compare the best civilization to-day, 
which is so largely merely a by-product of Chris- 
tianity. Our partly Christianized civilization, with 
its higher ideals by no means realized, is not the 
best that God can do, but it affords us a glimpse of 
what He will do when His program is in full and 
unhindered operation. 

The world has not yet been evangelized. God’s 
will in this respect has not been realized. In this 
matter the followers of Christ have failed. But 
when we think of the innumerable host of men and 
women who in past centuries and in the present 
have been regenerated, saved, purified, and many 
glorified, shall we not say that the Divine program 


PROGRAM AS A VINDICATION OF GOD 185 


is already a vindication of God? All who know 
what it is to be reconciled to God, who have God’s 
peace in their hearts, and who experience daily vic- 
tory over er the world throu ugh faith 3 In in the Lord Jesus 
enn in Christ. They have a foretaste of the final 
victories which the Divine program reveals. 


VINDICATION OF THE CONSUMMATION 


How unfair and unjust it would be to judge the 
plans and the ability of an architect by the partially 
completed structure! Await the finishing touches 
before pronouncing judgment. Likewise we would 
be unfair and unjust to God to condemn His plans 
for the world prior to the last detail of their com- 
pletion. Wait until the finale. God has ever the 
goal in view, and so ought we. When the program 
is finished and the last scene of the last act has been 
staged, then will be sung the grand “Hallelujah 
Chorus” of all created beings, , whether in heaven ot 
on earth. 

One of the unusual SUS OE of Christ was 

“the consummation of the age.” When He com- 
missioned His ‘disciples to evangelize the world He 
promised them His abiding presence to the very end 
of the age if only they would go forth in obedience 
to His command. His program is shaped for the 


» 


= 


186 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


long results. The end of all things is in all of His 
plans. Within those far-reaching plans are all the 
intervening stages. Christ worked and is still work- 
ing towards that all-important goal which He called 
“the consummation.” | 
The Apostle Peter referred to this consummation 
in connection with the return of Christ, “whom 
the heaven must receive until the restoration of all 
things, whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy 
prophets that have been from old.” Acts 3: 2t. 
Thus the consummation of the program for the 
world has been in view a long time, and God has re- 
vealed it to us lest we be discouraged along the way. 
We are ever to keep our eyes upon the end of the 


Seal 
age. That marvelous series of events will then com- 


pletely vindicate both God and His program. 


VINDICATION OF THE RESURRECTION 


In connection with the coming consummation will 
be the resurrection of believers.' The redemption 
planned by God includes our bodies. The Divine 
program would be incomplete without this. Sin 
wrecked our bodies as well as our souls. They 
too must be redeemed. In view of this great event 
Paul tells us that the whole creation groans and tra- 
vails in pain; for at that time the material creation 
will share in the glory of the children of God. We 
also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit eagerly 


FARIA AL 


PROGRAM AS A VINDICATION OF GOD 187 


anticipate the redemption of our body. Rom. 8: 
e2eo! 

Nor is this all. Those resurrected bodies will 
not be the same bodies, subject to physical ail- 
ments and limitations, They will be spiritual and 
heavenly and glorious. I Cor. 15:42-44. Not 
natural, but supernatural. For the body of our 
_ humiliation will be conformed to the body of His 
glory. Phil. 3:21. The human body is the most 
wonderful instrument in the world, self-regulating, 
self-repairing, self-propagating, and dominated by 
a superior soul. To restore the natural body to its 
original perfection would have been a wonderful 
thing for God to have planned, but to give us en- 
tirely new, spiritual bodies, not subject to weakness 
or decay, pain or sickness! Will not this be a won- 
derful vindication of God’s program? 

How far short all man-made schemes fall in com- 
Parison \ “with God’ Ss program | for man’s complete re- 
demption i is nowhere so apparent as.here. For exam- 
ple, the best that evolution has to offer, apart a 
God, is the gradual development of the “superman.” 
He may be godlike, but can never attain absolute 
perfection. The sanctification of the body, as well 
as of soul and spirit, is wholly dependent upon the 
resurrection of the body. _All theories of triumph 
through gradual development during countless _gen- 
erations have no certainty of attaining ‘the hoped- for. 
goal, ‘because death intercepts the incompleted proc- 


Wh 


188 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


esses. The Divine program will be triumphantly 
vindicated not only in resurrected and spiritual- 
ized bodies, but also in all the victories associated 
with that supernatural event. Human plans and 
theories are poor rivals to the all-performing pur- 
poses of God. 


VINDICATION OF THE RAPTURE 


In connection with the resurrection of believers 
who have died, should be mentioned the glorification 
and ascension of the living saints. Too little em- 
phasis has been placed upon this. We should pro- 
claim the Rapture, We shall not all die. Death 
An entire pereminen “Of believers in Christ has es: 
promised immunity from death. “In a moment, in 
the twinkling of an eye’ ” these corruptible bodies of 
ours, subject to decay and death, will be changed 
and will put on immortality. At that time, and in 
that moment, we shall be caught up to meet the de- 
scending Lord in the air, henceforth to be ever with 
Him. I Thess. 4: 16-18. What a triumph for God 
and for us! Such may have been God’s plan at the 
beginning, and which the entrance of sin into the 
world interrupted. We do not know; but we do 
know what God plans to do for His church in the 
triumph of the Rapture. 


PROGRAM AS A VINDICATION OF GOD 189 


VINDICATION OF JUDGMENT 


It was revealed to Daniel that while many who 
slept in the dust of the earth would awake to ever- 
lasting life, others would awake to shame and ever- 
lasting contempt. In Christ’s program of the resur- 
rection these same two parties are kept in view: the 
one reserved for the resurrection of life, and the 
other for the resurrection of judgment. John 
5:28, 29. God is able to deliver His own, but He 
also will by no means clear the guilty. 

Moreover the living as well as the dead are to be 
judged. In the world-field the wheat, representing 
the sons of the kingdom, is to be garnered; but the 
tares, or the sons of the evil one, are to be gathered 
and burned with fire. The reapers are the angels. 
» Matt. 13:38-42. Their work will be thorough. 
But other agencies also will be employed in the com- 
ing judgments which are to sweep over the earth. 
See Revelation, , chapters six to nineteen. 

atever may be the mystery ‘connected with the 
judgment of the wicked, of this we may be sure: 
Our God is a loving and just God. “Shall not the 
judgeof all the earth do right?” So reasoned 
Abraham as he pleaded for Sodom, and with that 
thought also he probably was comforted when the 
city was destroyed. When we clearly see things 
from God’s angle, in the full light of His knowledge 
and wisdom, we shall see in the awful approaching 


190 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


judgments of God that are coming the complete vin- 
dication of His terrible acts. 


VINDICATION OF THE KINGDOM AGE 


If God is at all vindicated in His past and present 
dealings with man, what shall we say of the King- 
dom Age? That is to be the age of glory, the 
Golden Age of the world. None of the past ages 
have been satisfactory. The program has tri- 
umphed but not fully. In the coming age, when 
Satan shall be bound, when evil shall be suppressed, 
when government shall be ideal, when the earth it- 
self shall be renovated and renewed, then the vindi- 
cation of the program of God will be perfect. 

The present world-order is full of inequalities 
and injustices, of greed, and strife, and war. Hu- 
man government always has been marked by partial 
_ or complete failure. Unable properly to _govern » 
_ himself_man_ has equally failed in his government — 
| of Others. It always has been so. Individual sin 
sera impossible { to “eliminate ‘the ‘sifis: ie} “society. 
Not until man is directly tly u ; under God’s government, 
a willing and loyal subject, can we have ideal.condi- 
“tions in the world. Human governments may be 
good, but 0 only God God’s government is perfect. When 
His Kingdom is eventually established on the earth, 
then universal righteousness and peace will be 
established. 





¥ 


PROGRAM AS A VINDICATION OF GOD 191 


VINDICATION BY THE DEFEAT OF SATAN 


The promise made to Adam and Eve contained 
the prophecy that the Seed of the woman would 
bruise the Serpent’s head. And Christ, who was 
this promised Seed, once declared: “I beheld Satan 
fallen as lightning from the heaven.” Luke to: 18. 
This was upon the return of the Seventy when they 
rejoiced that even the demons were subject unto 
them in Christ’s name. They then were assured 
that He had given them authority over all the power 
of the Enemy. 

The Apostle John assures us that “the Son of 
God was manifested to destroy the works of the 
devil.” I John 3:8. Since Satan was responsible 
for the introduction of sin into the world, with all 
of its attendant personal miseries and its destruction 
of men and communities and nations, surely that 
will be a mighty vindication of God’s program for 
man, when the Son of Man shall personally accom- 
plish the doom of Satan. 


VINDICATION OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND 
NEW EARTH 


Lest any one should still doubt that the world- 
program will be a perfect vindication of God we 
point to the final consummation of all things, when 
God shall make all things new—a new heaven, a 


192 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


new earth, and a holy city, the New Jerusalem, 
which is to be the center of light and worship and 
blessing for the new earth. In that new earth it 
is promised that “the tabernacle of God is with men, 
and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his 
peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and 
be their God; and he shall wipe away every tear 
from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither 
shall there be mourning; nor crying, nor pain, any 
more; the former things are passed away.” “He 
that overcometh shall inherit all these things.”’ This 
last promise closely links the present with the future. 
How unjust to judge the present except in view of 
that glorious future! In the light of those perfect 
conditions which the program contains, who shall 
say that God will not be abundantly vindicated, or 
that His program is not the best possible? 


VINDICATION OF IDEALS REALIZED 


Probably the greatest mystery of all the ages and 
the one that has caused men most to complain of 
God’s world, is the presence of so much physical 
suffering, due to poverty, sickness, slavery, acci- 
dents, epidemics, wars. If God is on the throne 
why do these evils continue? It does not fully 
satisfy to remind ourselves that most of the world’ s 
suffering is is due to the sins of mep, for in” many in- 


WR i oe as 


cnt POSTAL NERO 


PROGRAM AS A VINDICATION OF GOD 193 


dividual cases suffering seems unavoidable and in- 
escapable. 

n.a.world of sin sorrow is a logical sequence. 
Unless the Divine: program provides for a world 
measurably free from suffering we would be inclined 
to question the adequacy of the program. It is in- 
spiring to know that the program does provide for 
this very thing. In the Kingdom Age, when Christ 
reigns in glory as “the King of Kings,” blissful con- 
ditions will everywhere prevail. These are fully 
portrayed in the Psalms and in the Prophets; but we 
close with a single vindicating passage from the 
Apocalypse that portrays Kingdom-conditions: 
“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor 





.. any heat: for the Lamb that is in the midst of the 


throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them 
unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe 
away every tear from their eyes.’ Such are the 
ideal conditions of which men have dreamed in 
vain, but which the Divine program will achieve. 


CHAPTER XX 


THE PROGRAM ONE OF HOPE AND 
VICTORY! 


The charge of pessimism sometimes is brought 
against those who mention failure in connection 
with the program of God, or who call attention to 
things that look dark in the present conditions of 
society. People whose thinking has been dominated 
by human philosophy frequently are unable to recog- 
nize the persistence of evil in the world. To this 
class evils are only stepping stones to something 
greater and better. Everything is developing and 
constantly improving. Resident forces of them- 
selves, if sufficient time is allowed, will produce an 
ideal society. This gilded optimism, in the face of 


| approaching calamity, is quite as bad as blind pessi- 


mism in the face of much that is good. 


OPTIMISM OF THE PROPHETS 


One Monday morning a number of years ago the 
writer visited a meeting of ministers in a large east- 
ern city, and listened to an interesting paper upon 
The Optimism of the Prophets. Nearly all the evi- 


dence was taken from the prophet Isaiah, who has 
194 


PROGRAM ONE OF HOPE AND VICTORY 195 


been fittingly called “the prophet of glory.” Even 
in Isaiah, however, are many dark passages, which 
reveal awful and desperate conditions in society, 
and other passages which depict coming _judgments 
because of the sins and ator the nation. 
Then, too, we wondered why the writer of the paper 
did not quote from Jeremiah, “the weeping prophet.” 
Was not Jeremiah also an optimist? Neither in 
the paper nor in the discussion that followed was 
any reference made to the the pessimism of the » proph- 
ets. Yet nobody can “read the “prophets ~ without 
a al 
being impressed by their pessimism as well as their 
optimism. : 

Were the prophets optimistic? Surely. But the 
prophets of Israel were raised up by God in days of 
apostasy, and the burden of their messages was to 
call the people and the nation to repentance in view 
of approaching calamity on account of their sins. 
There was nothing « optimistic in the messages of the 
prophets a as s they. faced and denounced existing. con-— 
ditions. . Yet the prophets were truly optimistic. 
Why? Because they knew that God’s program 
looked beyond approaching judgments to a glowing 
future. Unto the prophets was revealed what God 
she es to do for His people and for the world 

“the latter days.” Thus were the prophets st sus- 
nate and thus were the people — e encouraged, No 
true optimism can be sectirely based upon the inter- 


minable Processes « of naturalistic evolution, and. the 


196 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


visionary improvement schemes of men. Optimism 
that is not doomed to disappointment rests only up- 
on the unfolding purposes of God. 


OPTIMISM OF CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES 


How faithfully Christ exposed and denounced 
the sins of the scribes and the Pharisees! How 
He lamented the doom of the privileged cities of 
Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum, wept over 
impenitent Jerusalem, foretold her coming destruc- 
tion and the world-wide scatterment of the Jews! 
How pessimistic the outlook! But was Christ a pes- 
simist or an optimist? Truly an optimist, because 
the program for the future was His own program. 
He knew what was to follow His own judgments, 
He knew the power of the Gospel, and He knew also 
the ti time of “the consummation,” when He should 
return and restore and renew mankind. His King- 
dom was surely coming. He would see to it that it 
did. His outlook was truly optimistic. 

Likewise the apostles. Although they foresaw 
the present age filled with shadows, especially at its 
close, the dominant note in their message was the 
note of victory. When persecuted they re joiced ; 1 
__prison they sang. Always cheerful, never en 
never defeated, they spoke of future reward and of 
reigning in glory. No.book is more optimistic than 
the New Testament; yet no book speaks 1 more cer- 


PROGRAM ONE OF HOPE AND VICTORY 197 


tainly of disintegrating ¢ elements at work in society, 
which | will terminate naturally i in coming | doom and 
world catastrophe, But catastrophe i is not the end 
of the Divine ‘program. 


MEANING OF THE GOSPEL 


While Christ portrayed a coming time of tribula- 
tion that would surpass in severity and extent any 
former period of judgment, and while this note of 
coming doom is present in the writings of all of the 
Apostles, yet the Gospel message as a els is fitly 
characterized as a message of “good news.”’ Such 
it truly is. Good news for the present: God is 
love. Christ has died and risen again. A message 
of salvation is freely offered to all mankind, a mes- 
sage of present joy, present peace, and present vic- 
tory. Nobody needs to perish. All may have ever- 
lasting life. Good news for both the present and 
future. Tribulation, sorrow, anguish will come, 
but out of all these will emerge an era of universal 
blessing and glory. Because we are in God’s keep- 
ing no evil can befall us, for God is overruling all 
things for our good. Not a single note of pessi- 
mism here. Although we may be “hated of all 
men,” and be persecuted even to “the loss of all 
things,” like Paul, nevertheless the consciousness of 
God’s presence now and belief in His blessed prom- 
ises pertaining to the future make the Gospel mes- 


198 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


sage the most optimistic message in the world. It 
is the world’s only hope. 


THE PHAN OF VICTORY 


It is said that the music of paganism is all in the 
minor key. When we hear it we listen to the dirge, 
to the wail of men set to music. At best it is plain- 
tive, like some of the Hawaiian music. But music 
that gets its inspiration from the Bible and from 
the Christians’ personal experiences of God, strikes 
the major key. Who but the Christian can sing the 
full-throated notes of victory? This is all because 
he is part of a victorious program. He is assured 
of future and final victory both because God has 
promised it, and because he has present foretaste of 
it in his own daily experience. 


THE NEAR OUTLOOK 


Certain near outlooks are far from encouraging. 
The recent great World War rudely shocked the 
calm assurance that civilization was almost Chris- 
tianized. The wild ferociousness of sin broke out 
anew and rioted furiously. ~The savage in man re- 
appeared. The Hun lived again! Notwithstanding 
the horrors and the frightful lessons of war the na- 
tions of Europe have not yet settled back into the 
ways of peace. Millions of money are being squan- 


——- 


PROGRAM ONE OF HOPE AND VICTORY 199 


dered upon armies and upon further preparations for 
war that should be devoted to settling war-debts, to 
honest industries, and to the causes of education and 
religion. The so-called peace seems more like a 
prolonged truce, with each nation fearful, distrust- 
ful, hating, and secretly preparing for the next 
world-war. 

The historical review of the past is also far from 
reassuring. One of the saddest and most disheart- 
ening things in history is that lands once Christian- 
ized have fallen into the hands of Moslem, Arab, 
or Turk, or have become dominated by a a perverted 
Christianity. _.Why is it? How can it be possible? 
Yet these are ‘the facts. The only explana- 
tion seems to be that just_as.God raised up heathen ‘ 
nations to punish apostate Israel,.so.God.chastises | 
His Church. when..she. becomes..decadent and loses : 


fia ihe RS pa. 


her spiritual power. 


VICTORY POSSIBLE 


Many disquieting features in the world of to- 
day might be mentioned. Our hearts will not be 
filled with assurance as we look at them. We must 
look rather to God and to His revealed program. 
God knows far better than we the forces that are 
undermining civilization, even threatening its de- 
struction; but He knows also His own plans and 
agencies which will assuredly prevent complete 


200 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


catastrophe, and which will establish perfect world- 
order in the age that shall follow this one. Human 

‘Solutions for present perplexing human problems are 

inadequate. _ They are ‘doomed. to failure. Only as 

- we turn more and more to God and to His all- -suf- 

ficient program will hope be quickened and courage 
strengthened ; remembering that “nothing is too 
hard for God,” and that He ever has the situation 
well in hand, however desperate it may appear to 
us. .Human schemes will fail, but our God cannot 
possibly be defeated, 





VICTORY PROMISED 


From the day that God said to Adam and Eve 
that the Seed of the woman should bruise Satan’s 
head, victory has been the dominant note in the pro- 
gram. It has resounded all through the ages. 
From generation to generation God’s people have 
sung His victories. God frequently renewed His 
promises and entered into far-reaching covenants 
with Abraham, Moses, David, and other chosen and 
trusted followers. He also raised up the prophets 
who reminded the Chosen Nation of God’s purposes, 
and appealed to the people for fuller codperation. 
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword, God’s people 
have held fast to the ultimate victory promised by 
Him. 

When Christ came the promises of God took on 


PROGRAM ONE OF HOPE AND VICTORY 201 


a fuller realization. His coming kindled a new 
hope, gave a new outlook, inspired a new devotion 
to God. In Him all of the previous promises of 
God centered and through Him all are to have their 
fulfilment. THe clarified them, enlarged them, filled 
them with new meaning, and added others still more 
precious. If we should consider only the promises 


of Christ to the oyercomers in His letters to the 
Seven Churches, we could not fail to be inspired 
with every assurance of final victory. The promises 
of God are also the purposes of God. For example, 
when our Lord taught His disciples to pray, “Thy 
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is 
in heaven,’ it was because a realized earthly King- 
dom of God was a part of the program. 


VICTORY PROCURED 


When we consider that victory for the world- 


in the coming triumph of Christ. While “now we 
see not yet all things subjected to him,” we can still 
rejoice in certain victory. We have only to call to 
mind the victories of God in all of the preceding 
great world-crises to know that in the approaching 
world-crisis God will triumph again. The agents 
and agencies of God will be found fully adequate for 


202 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 


the great world-crises of the future. Carefully 
chosen men and the ‘‘angels of his power,” together 
with all of the unseen and all-powerful forces, both 
celestial and terrestrial, will carry forward the world- 
program to complete victory. 


THE NEED FOR SUCH A PROGRAM 


The need for such a program as we have been 
considering with all its vastness, scope, and complex- 
ities, a veritable program of | programs, is apparent 
to all who ponder upon mn the 1 mysteries of history and 
seek a rational explanation of conditions as they 
exist to-day. Only such a program affords an 
adequate solution for all the problems of life. 
Nothing short of the Divine program will eliminate 
evil from the world and transform it into a para- 
‘dise of God. 

Such a comprehensive and extended program was 
needed also to demonstrate forever the Insufficiency 
and failure of man apart, from. God, “This demon- 
stration must be so ‘thorough that in all the ages to 
come man will never again question the love and 
the wisdom of God and man’s absolute dependence 
upon Him. Such an extended program has been 
absolutely necessary in order to permit man through 
many attempts at self-government to come to the end 
of his resources and be willing to acknowledge both 


PROGRAM ONE OF HOPE AND VICTORY 208 


the goodness and the supremacy of the all-loving and 
almighty God. 

The program was needed further for man’s own 
guidance. God did not leave man to find his way 
alone in the dark. In each great crisis God re- 
vealed to man what was expected of him in his own 
day and generation, and marked out the way he 
should take in order to arrive at a successful end. 
Man, unaided, could never have discovered this for 
himself. The Divine plans needed to be divinely 
revealed. The very justice of God demanded that 
He must needs take man into His counsels, and this 
God ever has shown himself ready to do. 

Finally such a program of victory was necessary 
in order to keep hope alive in the hearts of God’s 
people in days that are dark. Man of himself, 
however strong, is a dependent creature. He fre- 
quently comes to the end of his resources. He 
needs the inspiration of a hope that lures him on to 
victory. Knowing God and being acquainted with 
His program | of triumph” we are strengthened _ to 
endure < and t to press courageously onward. The 
work may be hard, the way dark, but the outcome 
certain; the trials sore, but the release final; the 
temptations fierce, but victory assured; death near- 
ing, but eternal bliss awaiting. Whatever the 
gloom or despair of the present it is light on ahead. 
The goal is glorious. The program is of God and 


B04 GOD’S WORLD-PROGRAM 

the consummation of all things is in His hands. 
He is pledged to victory. He will triumph glo- 
riously. Our cause is His cause. The Divine world- 
program is certain of complete triumph because the 
Kingdom of God will surely come. 


THE END 











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